May 11, 2008

Environmental Throwdown At Duke Shareholders’ Meeting

Duke Energy’s plans for new coal and nuclear plants did not please all who attended the company’s recent shareholder meeting, Charlotte Business Journal reports.

While Duke Chief Executive Jim Rogers responded to at least a dozen questions on global warming, air pollution and other environmental issues, the Carolina’s Clean Air Coalition, the N.C. Waste Awareness and Reduction Network and the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, were not impressed.

Shareholders also heckled environmental lawyer Gayle Goldsmith Tuch, who questioned Rogers about the environmental impact of several Duke projects. One shareholder was quoted as saying: “I’d just caution our company not to get caught up in all this global-warming business.”

Rogers’ presentation to shareholders stressed the need for Duke to balance demands for energy that is reliable, affordable and clean. After the two-hour meeting that included 90 minutes of questions, he promised that Duke would take most of the carbon out of its energy production by 2050.

You can catch a webcast of the meeting here.

In its 2007/2008 sustainability report, Duke outlined a possible scenario through which it would cut its 2006 CO2 emissions in half — by approximately 50 million tons — by 2030.

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