The Town of Carrboro sued Duke Energy Corp. today for the company’s decades-long role leading a nationwide climate deception scheme that has worsened the climate crisis, harmed the community and cost the town millions of dollars. The lawsuit seeks to hold Duke Energy accountable for the damages inflicted on Carrboro by the corporation’s campaign to delay the transition from planet-heating fossil fuels to renewable energy.
Today’s lawsuit says Duke Energy’s top executives have known for more than 50 years about the risks from fossil fuels but have been ringleaders of a widespread campaign to mislead the public about its climate harms and increase reliance on coal and gas for electricity. Carrboro has been working to fight climate chaos and environmental injustice for years, including developing community-based solar programs, implementing climate resilience measures for low-income residents and small businesses, and funding nature-based solutions for stormwater management. “This lawsuit represents an incredible opportunity to put an end to corporate deception and enter a new era for Carrboro,” said Mayor Pro Tem Danny Nowell. “It’s time for us to hold Duke Energy accountable for decades of deception, padding executives’ pockets while towns like ours worked to mitigate the harmful effects of climate change. This suit will allow the Town of Carrboro to invest new resources into building a stronger, more climate-resilient community, using the damages justly due to our residents to reimagine the ways we prepare for our climate reality.”
Duke Energy, the third largest-polluting corporation in the U.S., has worked with industry front groups and PR firms to deceive the public about the science of climate change and block action to combat it, causing Carrboro and its residents significant harm, the lawsuit said.
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