Top Posts
African climate change projects secure major funding
Former French PM urges China, Europe to unite...
NDDC, FOSDO launch tree-planting campaign to address climate...
WHO unveils an ambitious blueprint for action on...
New report shows nearly 900 million poor people...
Lagos to Host 2025 International Climate Change Summit
New study shows overheating world will add 57...
NAICOM urges W’African insurers to invest in climate...
Climate change: Nigeria, development partners launch Net Zero...
Nigeria launches net zero project to fight climate...
EcoNai Newsroom
  • Newsround
  • Nigeria
  • Africa
  • World
World

North Carolina town sues energy ‘Goliath’ in climate action

by admineconai December 6, 2024
written by admineconai December 6, 2024
400

Latest reports suggest that a small North Carolina town has launched the nation’s first-ever climate accountability lawsuit against an electric utility.

Filed by officials from Carrboro, North Carolina, on Wednesday morning, the litigation accuses Duke Energy of waging a “deception campaign” to obscure the climate dangers of fossil fuels. Those efforts resulted in delayed action to curb planet-heating pollution, which has pushed up the costs of climate action today, the lawsuit says.

“When you’re dealing with something like the existential threat of climate change, that requires us to make bold moves,” said Carrboro’s mayor, Barbara Foushee, who helped bring the suit.

The litigation follows a November report from the non-profit research group Energy and Policy Institute, which found some of the utility companies that comprise today’s Duke Energy Corporation – including Duke Power, Carolina Power & Light, and Public Service Indiana – were cautioned about the climate crisis decades ago.

“Although Duke has understood the dangers of climate change for decades, the company actively participated in a far-reaching, decades-long campaign to deceive the public and decision-makers about these dangers,” the suit says.

In 1969, the lawsuit says, officials from utilities now owned by Duke attended a meeting of the Edison Electric Institute, a trade group, where they were informed that scientists believed increasing carbon emissions would be a “long-term problem of major consequence”.

Read also: Climate 200 : Ad campaign comparing Dutton to Trump sees donations increase by $380,000

The same trade group in 1984 commissioned a study that included two hypothetical news stories from the future – one in which fossil fuel emissions continued unabated and caused devastating impacts, and another in which emissions were reined in and a safer future was secured, the lawsuit says.

Despite these warnings, Duke continued to build out fossil fuel infrastructure, oppose legal limits to planet-heating pollution and back efforts to promote doubt about climate science, according to the suit.

In 1991, the lawsuit says, the Edison Electric Institute placed newspaper advertisements with the message: “How much are you willing to pay to solve a problem that may not exist?” Duke maintained its membership in the institute.

“They tried to sow confusion about climate change and the fact that there’s a threat that we face in the future,” said Howard Crystal, legal director of the Energy Justice Program at the non-profit Center for Biological Diversity, who is advising the plaintiffs on the case.

The deception continues to be a problem today, now in the form of “greenwashing”, said Crystal.

On social media, Duke has portrayed itself as a leader in bringing on “cleaner energy solutions” despite having one of the largest planned gas buildouts of any company in the US.

“They’re still expanding fossil fuels and suppressing renewables – in flat defiance of scientists demanding that we do the exact opposite,” said Jim Warren, executive director of local non-profit NC Warn, in a statement.

According to one study, Duke Energy in 2021 had the third-largest emissions footprint of any business in the United States.

Story was adapted from the Guardian.

Climate changeCourtGoliathNorth Carolina
0 comment 0 FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
admineconai

previous post
Climate 200 : Ad campaign comparing Dutton to Trump sees donations increase by $380,000
next post
Campaigners react as US argues against climate obligations at UN court

Related Posts

Former French PM urges China, Europe to unite...

October 22, 2025

WHO unveils an ambitious blueprint for action on...

October 20, 2025

New report shows nearly 900 million poor people...

October 20, 2025

New study shows overheating world will add 57...

October 16, 2025

Heaviest monsoon in a decade kills 458 people...

October 9, 2025

Council releases first fully electric bin lorry

October 9, 2025

Study shows US asthma inhalers produce same emissions...

October 7, 2025

Pope Leo hits out at climate change critics

October 3, 2025

Protesters seek $5tr payment from fossil fuel companies

October 1, 2025

UN official says climate change displaces up to...

September 30, 2025

Leave a Comment Cancel Reply

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

Newsletter

Subscribe my Newsletter for new blog posts, tips & new photos. Let's stay updated!

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Linkedin
  • Bloglovin
  • Vimeo

@2021 - All Right Reserved. Designed and Developed by Eco-Nai+

EcoNai Newsroom
  • Newsround
  • Nigeria
  • Africa
  • World