But Duke, we weren’t bad; why all the coal in our stockings?
Isn’t it always empowering to hear about local college students see the light of activism and try to stick it to a large corporation that’s plundering natural resources? Protesting is really the only way to get in the faces of powerful, wealthy companies that feel they can trample on whatever they please with no fear of repercussion. Thank you, freedom of speech, and no thanks to those who destroy our environment for monetary gain.
Even though it’s not really heart-warming to know that these young protesters were actually arrested for exercising their freedom of speech, it sure got ‘em noticed, and that’s the goal of protesting, right? So here’s a big “hats off” to the Charlotte P.D. for cuffing these college kids and inadvertently scoring them the publicity they needed; most of us wouldn’t even be aware of the issue had it not been brought to light in this manner. Sure, blocking off an entrance to a business might not be the nicest means of protesting, but screwing up our atmosphere with pollution from coal-burning plants isn’t very nice either, now is it? While these kids didn’t necessarily deserve to get legal charges, as they were fighting for a worthy, smart cause, the publicity garnered by the arrest definitely spread the message more effectively than the protest did.
This isn’t some new issue, either; there’s been quiet protest amongst the learned for a while now. On the same day these Warren Wilson students made their stand, students at UNCA made phone calls voicing their concerns about Duke’s planned expansion and the unpleasant effect it would have on our environment. Other college students across the state phoned in to our governor’s office and, of course, the office of Duke Energy CEO Jim Rogers. Now that this issue has been openly addressed by the media and a lot more of us are aware of it, we have to keep our eyes open. This is a serious situation regardless of how it’s looked at; anything regarding our environment’s well-being is important.
Duke Energy’s facilitation of coal-burning is less harmful than it could be, sure, but it’s still a bad thing. Trying to justify it on the grounds of it being, “less harmful” or “better than it could be” is like saying one type of cigarette is less apt to result in lung cancer than another; all cigarettes can result in lung cancer and all pollution results in harming our environment. While our state does need energy, this expansion would result in producing more than we actually require at the expense of our air. Last time I checked, we need air as much as we do energy. In an article regarding this matter that I recently read, it’s stated that if Duke Energy were to open up another coal-fired plant, the new one combined with the pre-existing would pump an additional one million cars’-worth of CO2 into North Carolina’s atmosphere.
There’s so much political baggage associated with climate clean-up these days that it makes it hard for a lot of people to view it as anything other than a political campaign issue. Really though, it’s a lot more than that; it’s everything. Saving our planet should be a top priority for everyone; it’s not like we have an extra one sitting in storage somewhere. We’re lucky enough to live in a state with so much excess natural beauty everywhere, and I know we all want it to stay that way.
Here’s an irrefutable fact: We live here. Here’s another one: Pollution hurts the place we live.
We all need to stay on top of making sure our environment stays clean. So thank you, Warren Wilson student protesters, for being the “martyrs” that got this issue some press. Stay alert, WNC, and help keep things green.
