Protestors in Greenville, South Carolina have ‘locked’ themselves to a generator weighing 1.5 million pounds that is being shipped to a coal plant intended to be built by Duke Energy in Rutherford County, North Carolina. The protestors also hung a banner from the generator that says, “Stop Cliffside,” the name of the new plant. Duke’s proposed Cliffside plant would allegedly produce over 6 million tons of carbon dioxide annually, and also emit mercury. These toxic levels are known for worsening conditions of global warming and reducing air quality in surrounding areas. According to the article, construction of some coal plants has been halted due to protestors, but there are still 43 new coal plants currently being proposed in the United States. The protestors are members of Asheville Rising Tide and Croatan Earth First! and claim they are doing their part in a fight that politicians and corporations refuse to participate in. Over 60 protestors have been arrested in the past eighteen months in acts of opposition against Cliffside.
Sources:
“U.S.: Concerned Citizens Block Shipment of Generator to Cliffside Coal Plant.”
Mobilization for Climate Justice. Nov. 30 2009. Web. Dec. 9 2009.
Student Researchers: Abbey Wilson & Jillian Harbin
Faculty Instructor: Kevin Howley, Associate Professor of Media Studies, DePauw University
Evaluator: Tim Cope, Department of Geosciences, DePauw University