“We are not against business… we are not against good business practices, but we are against business practices that step on and hurt and put at risk the lives of people. And that must be cleaned up.” – Rev. Dr. William Barber

Protesters outside Duke Energy’s shareholder meeting.

Hundreds of citizens from across North Carolina converged on May Day for the annual Duke Energy shareholders meeting.

For four years now, social justice advocates have brought the people’s demands to Duke’s doorstep and to the shareholders who influence the corporation’s policies.

The Dan River coal ash spill and attacks on clean energy were highlighted during the action along with several other racial, environmental and economic injustices practiced by Duke Energy which is the largest energy company in the world.

Appalachian Voices co-sponsored the action with a broad coalition of groups including NC WARN, Greenpeace, Charlotte Environmental Action, NC NAACP, Democracy NC, and Action NC.

Several local groups made the action memorable, effective and safe. I’d like to give a special shout out to the volunteer-based Charlotte Environmental Action who led our chants and was the creative force behind the outstanding banners and signs.

You can watch a compilation of speeches and footage from the protest in this YouTube video made by the Canary Coalition.

Community members and advocates paddle on Belews Lake. Photo by Avery Locklear

We followed this statewide action with a paddle and picnic community day at Belews Creek, where Duke Energy’s largest — and arguably North Carolina’s dirtiest — coal plant operates and pollutes. Appalachian Voices, the Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal campaign, NC WARN and the Tarheel Paddlers Association pulled together a May 10 morning paddle with kayaks and canoes on Belews Lake, which has long history of contamination from the coal-fired power plant that sits on its banks.

After the paddle we shared a potluck style meal with 75 local residents to celebrate our progress and community resilience. The sight of everyone uniting to end the environmental injustices and racism experienced in Belews Creek solidifies the movement to secure a healthy and safe future free of pollution and inequity. We’ve come a long way as a grassroots effort – we recently named the community group as “Residents for Coal Ash Cleanup,” drafted our collective vision and resolution (attached below) and strengthened the national fight for clean water with the video “At What Cost?”

If you’d like to help our work go farther, you can take a few actions from home:

> Share the “At What Cost” video on Facebook or Twitter
> Sign this petition to protect net metering policies and residential solar energy in North Carolina
> Contact us to find a group near you working to clean up coal ash or increase renewable energy!