Protesters arrested at Governor's Mansion

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Duke coal plant protesters arrested

Police arrested dozens of protesters Monday at Duke Energy's Charlotte headquarters after a rally and march against Duke Energy's coal policies.

About 300 people gathered to decry the expansion of Duke's Cliffside coal-fired power plant in Rutherford County. After marching to the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Government Center, where protesters called on Gov. Beverly Perdue to stop Cliffside, they gathered outside Duke's downtown headquarters.

As the crowd chanted "Arrest Jim Rogers," a reference to Duke Energy's CEO, several dozen people lined up to cross a spray-painted line that delimited Duke Energy's property; they were arrested. Protest organizers said 44 people were arrested for trespassing.

It's a movement

Regarding the Oct. 25 article "Protesters arrested at Governor's Mansion":

I was disappointed to see no mention of the larger, international movement that these six brave individuals were a part of. Saturday, Oct. 24, marked the world's largest and most prolific demonstration against climate change ever. It is truly amazing that there were over 4,500 events in over 180 countries worldwide, not to mention the 150 people in Raleigh, myself included, who braved the rain to march from Moore Square to the Governor's Mansion.

Locally, it is imperative that we hold energy companies accountable for their contribution to the degradation of our environment. Duke Energy's Cliffside coal-fired power plant is not a step in the right direction, and Gov. Beverly Perdue needs to address this.

Protesters tie selves to generator part

A Durham man and three other protesters against coal power attached themselves Monday to a nearly 1 million-pound generator part bound for North Carolina for more than an hour before deputies were able to remove them.

Headed to a power generating plant under construction near Cliffside, N.C., the part had been parked in a lot near Greenville, S.C., for about a week when four protesters scaled a fence around 8:45 a.m. Monday, climbed to the top of the massive piece of equipment and refused to get down, Greenville County Master Deputy Melissia McKinney said.

Paul Loomis, 21, of Durham, was arrested along with Rachel Scarano, 21; Catherine MacDougal, 22, of Asheville, N.C.; and Julia Page, 20. All were charged with disorderly conduct, deputies said. They face up to 30 days in jail or a $100 fine if convicted of the misdemeanor.

Getting juiced for a fight

In what's become a traveling sideshow to upstage public appearances by Duke Energy CEO Jim Rogers, more than a dozen protestors Tuesday mocked the Charlotte utility's ongoing construction of a coal-burning power plant in the state.

Despite the political theater outside, Rogers defended his company's controversial policies in his keynote address at the sixth annual Sustainable Energy Conference here. Rogers quipped about the inflatable power plant that his critics prominently set up in front of the conference center, but he said that coal today provides 50 percent of the nation's electricity and will be burned for years to come as the country gradually transitions to cleaner forms of energy that don't contribute to global warming.

Duke's Cliffside power plant, under construction west of Charlotte in the Blue Ridge foothills, will is expected to operate for at least half a century, providing 800 megawatts of electricity for Duke's customers in the Carolinas. In the meantime, Rogers said, the nation will

Duke doesn't need plant to meet demand

Even though Duke Energy forecasts its long-term electricity demand to decline, the utility wants to hike residential electricity bills by a total 18 percent in 2009. A sizeable portion would pay to finance a new power plant -- which may never be completed -- so Duke can expand sales in South Carolina.

This would be the first of many rate increases if Duke continues building highly risky coal and nuclear plants.

For three years Duke has insisted that a new 800 megawatt coal-fired plant near Charlotte -- a veritable global warming machine -- is essential to keep up with growing demand in the utility's monopoly service area. Persistently challenged, that assertion has steadily withered under a stack of evidence, including two new revelations: