Judge rules against Duke Energy’s Cliffside plant

U.S. District Judge Lacy H. Thornburg has ruled that Duke Energy must comply with the Clean Air Act for its new unit at the Cliffside power plant. The Dec. 2 order forces Duke to undergo a stringent process to investigate the plant’s likely pollution levels, as well as the appropriate technology to control toxics released from the new coal boiler that Duke says will replace several smaller older units.

Duke Energy’s Cliffside power plant

Duke Energy Corp. is building an 800-megawatt coal-burning power plant in Rutherford County. Environmentalists have opposed the plant, and on July 16, 2008, the Southern Environmental Law Center filed a lawsuit in federal court in Asheville aiming to halt construction at the Cliffside Steam Station. The organization contends that Duke Energy doesn’t have a valid […]

Looking down that lonesome road

I feel sad about the dialogue that isn’t happening concerning choices that have lasting, detrimental effects on our children and the planet. Sad that environmentalists are seen as a threat. Sad that the environmental community remains stuck in its own groups and doesn’t pool resources, efforts, hearts and hands to create the future we want […]

Asheville activists arrested at Cliffside power plant

As the sky grew light on the morning of April 1, a half-dozen activists locked themselves to the heavy earth-moving equipment parked at the Cliffside power plant construction site in Rutherford County. At least three Asheville residents joined others from across the state to protest Duke Energy’s recently permitted, 800-megawatt coal-fired facility. The 20 or […]

The Green Scene

Asheville’s air quality “borderline” under new standard Every five years, the Environmental Protection Agency is required to take a hard look at its air-quality standards to verify that they’re strict enough to protect public health. During the latest assessment, announced March 12, the federal agency concluded that its restriction on ground-level ozone—the pollutant that causes […]

The Green Scene

The greening of the paper industry? “Paper is still one of our most challenging environmental issues, and there’s still much more work to be done,” says Joshua Martin, coordinator of the Environmental Paper Network. But Martin expresses hope, not cynicism, about the industry’s recent environmental progress. Logging the industry’s progress: Companies like International Paper are […]