The landscape from Plaquemines Parish, south of New Orleans, through to Biloxi and North into Selma is some of the most beautiful I’ve ever seen in my life. Continue reading
Tag Archives: Quit Coal
As China Addresses Its ‘Airpocalypse,’ Coal Exporters Fear Loss Of Another Market
Originally posted to Think Progress
China’s air pollution crisis is more evident than ever. A new research report, conducted under the World Health Organization’s Global Burden of Disease project, shows that over 1.2 million premature deaths were caused by PM2.5 pollution (fine particles like soot, mostly resulting from fossil fuel combustion). That accounts for 15 percent of the total deaths in China during 2010 and 40 percent of global air pollution-related deaths. The data also showed that Chinese people’s average exposure to PM2.5 increased 50 percent from 1990 to 2010, compared to 10 percent globally. Continue reading
You may have paid your taxes, but nation’s largest utility company Duke Energy doesn’t have to
It’s the day after tax day, and while many of us may be cringing at the big checks we just wrote the IRS or celebrating our refunds, Duke Energy isn’t paying federal income taxes for the fifth year in a row. After its merger with Progress Energy, North Carolina based Duke Energy is the nation’s largest utility company and raked in more than $1 billion in profits last year.
Duke is using the deferral process to avoid paying taxes, which should have been $627 million. Instead it actually received a rebate of $46 million. Interesting timing since Duke Energy is also planning customer rate hikes to pay for investments in coal and nuclear energy. Continue reading
Southeasterners can thank Duke Energy when global warming gives them twice as many thunderstorms
A new study suggests that global warming could increase thunderstorms in the Southeast
A new study from NASA suggests that global warming could increase the number of violent, damaging thunderstorms that strike the U.S., particularly in the Southeast, which could see a 100 % increase in the number of days with thunderstorms. Continue reading
Sally Jewell can end the Department of Interior’s coal industry giveaways
As the new Secretary of the Interior, Secretary Sally Jewel has an important opportunity to end the Department of the Interior’s (DOI) giveaways to the coal industry, which are unlocking enormous amounts of carbon pollution, wasting taxpayer dollars, and subsidizing the coal industry’s efforts to export publicly-owned coal to Asia.
A federal coal leasing program run by DOI’s Bureau of Land Management has resulted in almost $30 billion in government handouts to the coal industry. The giveaway happens through noncompetitive “auctions” where the Department sells the rights to publicly-owned coal for a fraction of what it’s worth. Continue reading
Greenpeace documentary about Chicago coal plant premieres at film festival
“What should we call you?” I ask Leila Mendez before our Q and A session after a screening of Monsters, Greenpeace’s documentary about Leila and Chicago’s fight to shut down an ancient coal plant . Star? Too Hollywood. Documentary subject? Too weird. Kick-ass activist? Bingo. Continue reading
The Solar Revolution is Happening, with or without Duke Energy
© Tim Shaffer / Greenpeace
Last week, the largest producer of power in the United States took a radical step to acknowledge a basic fact: the solar energy revolution has finally reached the United States, and it cannot be stopped. Continue reading
Two North Carolina coal plants turn off today, ending a century of pollution
This is no April fool’s joke. Today, two of Duke Energy’s dirty, outdated coal plants – Riverbend and Buck, in North Carolina – are officially turning off.
Duke Energy is the county’s largest electric utility, and until today operated 14 coal fired power plants in its home state of North Carolina. But because of the organizing efforts of everyday North Carolinians, two of those coal plants have been shut down before Duke had otherwise planned. Continue reading
China’s Wind Power Production Increased More Than Coal Power Did For First Time In 2012
Wind turbines in Zhong Guanghe Wind Farm in China.
Originally posted by Think Progress
Amid all the news about coal and pollution problems in China you might have missed this one: According to new statistics from the China Electricity Council, China’s wind power production actually increased more than coal power production for the first time ever in 2012. Continue reading
Up to 115,000 Indians killed by coal in 2012
Bhagwat Saw, 69, in the emergency section at Life Line Hospital. Bhagwat has been working as a coal loader for over 40 years and was discovered to be suffering from pneumoconiosis.
The skeletons keep piling up and tumbling out of King Coal’s closet. A new study attributes between 80,000 to 115,000 premature deaths in India due to emissions from coal power plants in India. The study, conducted by Dr. Sarath Guttikunda and Puja Jawahar of Urban Emissions, also attributed millions of cases of asthma and heart disease to emissions from coal power plants in India. Continue reading