The news has been flooded the past two weeks with stories of climate change activism. From the Global Climate Strike, to #ShutDownDC, to 16-year-old climate activist Greta Thunberg’s comments at the United Nations. North Carolina had its own climate change protest on Friday, September 27, according to Carolina Journal’s Lindsay Marchello. Marchello writes:
Gov. Roy Cooper hadn’t finished his opening remarks at the Climate Change Interagency Council meeting before noisy protesters decried his position on the Atlantic Coast Pipeline…
Protesters shamed Cooper for approving the Atlantic Coast Pipeline, a planned 600-mile underground natural gas transmission pipeline. Starting in West Virginia, the pipeline would run through Virginia and end in Robeson County.
Activists said the pipeline would boost greenhouse gas emissions by promoting fracking.
Climate change protesters were not satisfied with Gov. Roy Cooper’s energy policy, despite his progressive clean energy goals. According to Marchello:
On Oct. 29, 2018, Cooper signed Executive Order 80 to address climate change and outline how the state could transition to a “clean energy” economy. The EO established the climate council and set goals…
The N.C. Clean Energy Plan, devised by the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality, calls for modernizing the electric grid and reducing fossil-fuel energy use. Under the plan, the state would promote solar and wind energy. Around 90% of the state’s annual power output comes from natural gas, coal, and nuclear power.
The protesters were escorted out of the room by police, and despite Gov. Cooper’s comment that he “loves public input,” Marchello reported he left before the public comment period.
Read the full story here. Learn more about Cooper’s Climate Change Executive Order here.
