N.C. OKs Duke's giant coal plant; protests to continue

Bucking a national trend away from coal-burning power plants, North Carolina regulators yesterday issued a permit allowing Duke Energy to build a massive new coal-fired unit at its Cliffside plant in the western part of the state. The company plans to begin construction on the $2.4 billion project immediately and hopes to have the facility up and running by 2012.

The decision to permit the new unit comes despite serious concerns raised about its impact on climate, public health, and air quality in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. It also comes amidst an ongoing lawsuit brought against the Charlotte-based company by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency over its failure to meet pollution control requirements.

Environmental advocates who had been fighting the project denounced North Carolina's decision and criticized what they called misleading statements made by Duke and state regulators about the facility's environmental impact. According to a statement issued yesterday by N.C. Waste Awareness and Reduction Network Director Jim Warren:

"The State and Duke Energy seem to be working in tandem to put lipstick on a pig, based on their coordinated announcements today. Despite their withering campaign of distortion, building the Cliffside power plant is a losing strategy for the climate crisis, air quality and mercury poisoning of the North Carolina public."

Warren pointed out that the final permit included only a "slight, token" reduction in mercury limits over the draft version -- and the reduction was based on a recalculation of mercury emissions rather than any required changes to controls. This means the planned facility will be out of compliance with federal rules limiting mercury emissions, Warren said.

He also blasted Duke's and North Carolina's claims that Cliffside will be "carbon neutral" by 2018. He called that a "meaningless statement" based on "vague promises" of carbon offsets elsewhere in the company's operations. In fact, the new Cliffside unit is expected to emit more than 6 million tons of carbon dioxide each year, which is 12 times more than what's emitted by the four smaller units the company plans to retire. It's also expected to emit 405 pounds of mercury, a potent neurotoxin, each year, and use 120 million gallons of water a day in a region that's suffering from an extraordinary drought.

Cliffside opponents have also raised concerns about Duke Energy's enormous political influence in the state. Indeed, the company's political action committee consistently ranks among the 10 largest in the state and among the five largest sponsored by a single company, according to a recent study [PDF] by Democracy North Carolina. Duke Energy also ranked in the top 10 energy-industry contributors during the 2004 and 2006 election cycles, according to a recent study [PDF] by the National Institute on Money in State Politics.

The Canary Coalition, a clean air advocacy group based in western North Carolina, has called for protests against Cliffside to continue until the plans are abandoned. The group is promoting weekly boycott actions against the company, with concerned citizens asked to turn off their lights every Sunday at 8 p.m. and to place an LED candle in the window in solidarity.

(Photo courtesy of the Canary Coalition.)