Proposed coal-plant expansion draws more cheers than jeers in North Carolina

Duke Energy's plan to expand one of its North Carolina coal-fired power plants, its first such expansion in decades, has drawn both strong support and opposition. However, But the supporters of the Cliffside plant in Rutherford County expansion far outnumbered those opposed at a public hearing this week, reports Drew Brooks of The Shelby Star in adjoining Cleveland County. (Encarta map)

Of the 300 or so attendance, most were wearing green "Cliffside Yes" stickers, Brooks reports. These stickers dominated the few saying "No excuse for coal" worn by those opposing the expansion. "The perception has grown that the majority opposed the expansion," Duke Energy's President and CEO Jim Turner told Brooks. "I think it’s a great show of community support."

Of the few speaking against the expansion, all but one came from counties other than Cleveland and Rutherford. Those in favor mostly were local leaders, who claimed their constituents were almost unanimously in favor of the plan. They also emphasized that the construction create as many as 2,000 jobs and that the plant near the Broad River would add 20 to 30 permanent positions.

Bruce Henderson of The Charlotte Observer reports that the environmentalists speaking against the plan emphasized that coal-fired plants contribute to irritating ozone. He added that the South "accounts for about 40 percent of U.S. emissions of carbon dioxide, which most scientists say is warming the planet." Dr. Richard Fireman, a physician from Mars Hill, north of Asheville, said the expansion would be "a death sentence for our state."