Hi there!
Even this summer is crazy busy with so much going on, including the July 11th twitter storm, July 16th Rally for Real Clean Energy, July 22nd Energy Justice NC tour, and more! Maybe I’ll see you at one or more of these events!
July 11, Tweet and Call: Support Energy Justice for NC!

Duke Energy’s ratepayer ripoff bill is moving through the General Assembly this week. Join Energy Justice NC and others on July 11th for an all day twitter storm to make our collective voices heard, urging Governor Cooper to speak out against SB559! Help spread the word and stop the North Carolina Legislature from giving Duke Energy more power!

Feel free to choose any of these pre-written tweets or create your own.

.@NC_Governor, No blank checks for Dirty Duke, please oppose SB559! #EnergyJusticeNC #EndtheDukeMonopoly

.@NC_Governor Give power to the people, please oppose @DukeEnergy’s dirty bill! #EnergyJusticeNC #EndtheDukeMonopoly

.@NC_Governor We need energy choices in the hands of the people, not fossil fuel special interests. #EndtheDukeMonopoly #OpposeSB559 #EnergyJusticeNC #EnergyChoice

Not on twitter? You can still participate by calling or emailing the Governor at 919-814-2000 or [email protected] and asking him to continue to oppose Duke Energy’s deceptive rate hike bill. It’s still bad with the amendment they added this week!
Piedmont Natural Gas/Duke Rate Hike Hearings
Piedmont/Duke is requesting $285 million for the projected cost of the proposed Robeson County LNG facility ($250 million) This could include the cost of the pipeline to connect this facility. Rate payers should not be required to pay the cost of a facility that has not been built and is still being opposed by the impacted community. Speak up for clean air and environmental justice! Link to email your comments here. Include Docket No. G-9 Sub 743 in the subject line.
July 10, 2019 7:00 pm, Courtroom 5350, Mecklenburg County Courthouse, 832 E 4th St, Charlotte
July 17, 2019 7:00 pm, Courtroom 317, New Hanover County Courthouse, 316 Princess St, Wilmington
July 12, We Are Here exhibition by Paperhand Puppet Intervention Celebrating 20 Years of Puppetry Arts
6-8 pm Opening Reception, The ArtsCenter, 300 E Main St, Carrboro. Exhibition runs July 3rd-31st
For two decades this award winning troupe has been creating spectacles, manifesting dreams and inspiring audiences of all ages across the Triangle and the world. Their work seeks to (re)connect people with the Earth and its’ creatures (including humans to each other), while deepening our empathy and capacity to feel. They strive to illuminate and reflect the beauty, wonder, and magic of the world, while also illustrating the complexities and paradoxes of humanity. All this toward justice, compassion, creativity, equity, sustainability, and peace. More info here about the exhibit. Plus, follow their facebook page and website for updates and dates of their awesome 20th annual summer program, We Are Here, beginning August 2nd and performed at the Forest Theatre in Chapel Hill! Always such a special evening!
July 12, Lights for Liberty: A Vigil to End Human Detention Camps,
Lights for Liberty will bring thousands of Americans to detention camps across the country, into the streets, and into their own front yards, to protest the inhumane conditions faced by refugees. There are over 20 events taking place across NC. Look for a location near you here or join in solidarity with a few friends at your home.
July 15, STOP Enviva!!! Sampson County Public Hearing
6:30 pm, Sampson Community College, Activity Center, 1801 Sunset Avenue, Clinton, NC
Every year, tens of thousands of acres of North Carolina forests are cut down, turned into wood pellets at Enviva’s mills, and shipped overseas to be burned for electricity. It’s worse for the climate than burning coal, and it’s hurting our communities here at home with toxic air emissions. Enviva is attempting a major expansion at their Sampson County wood pellet facility. Join others to voice your opposition to the expansion of the wood pellet industry! RSVP and more info here.You can also email comments by July 19 to [email protected] with the subject “Enviva Sampson.18A.
July 16, Rally for Real Clean Energy
3:30-5 pm. Join us after Governor Cooper’s Interagency Climate Council meeting held at the Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art (750 Marguerite Dr. Winston-Salem). People from across the state will gather to demand REAL clean energy solutions in North Carolina! Exact location for rally TBD, but will probably be just outside the meeting space. Check for updates here. You can also attend the Interagency Climate Council meeting from 1:30-4 pm and sign up to speak during the 30 minute comment period beginning about 3:30.
***You have until the end of this month to share comments about Governor Cooper’s Executive Order 80 before the plan is released August 12th! The governor has made climate promises to NC – but has turned a blind eye to dirty industries like biomass & fracked gas pipelines. That’s not climate leadership!! You can use this link or click this link to send comments to NC DEQ. We need a truly clean energy plan for North Carolina that is just, equitable, and bold! That means it must explicitly reject false solutions — like fracked gas pipelines, wood pellet biomass, and biogas — and it must explicitly prioritize a just transition for communities. We must transition to 100% truly clean, renewable energy, like solar and wind power and storage!
“Expressing the sense of Congress that there is a climate emergency which demands a massive-scale mobilization to halt, reverse, and address its consequences and causes.”
With the climate crisis we are in, I was grateful to hear about and read the Climate Emergency Resolution introduced yesterday in DC. One of my favorite lines:
“Whereas, according to climate scientists, addressing the climate emergency will require an economically just and managed phase-out of oil, gas and coal to keep fossil fuels in the ground.”
***Call your U.S. Representative and Senators to ask them to support the climate emergency resolution!! Already passed in several countries and over 700 local governments worldwide, climate emergency resolutions and actions need to be spreading across the U.S. and NC! Here’s another link with a summary that includes a list of organizations endorsing the resolution, including 350.org.

July 22, Asheville Uprising: Energy Justice for North Carolina
5:30-9 pm, Salvage Station, 468 Riverside Dr Asheville
Teaming up with local partners Community Roots, the Asheville Sunrise Movement and Dogwood Alliance, Energy Justice North Carolina is bringing a powerful message to Asheville: It’s Time to End the Duke Monopoly. We are calling for a just and democratic energy system that allows local communities to have a say in how and where their electricity is produced. The current monopoly system stifles clean energy options that we are working towards. More info to RSVP here and here.

Climate Destabilization gatherings on the 2nd and 4th Sundays each month at the Oasis Cafe in Carrboro, 6:30-8:30 pm. Carr Mill Mall, 200 N. Greensboro Street. More info here.
Tuesdays with(out) Tillis, join the awesome group of activists and speakers every Tuesday in Raleigh as different themes, actions, and issues are shared, 11:30 am to 12:30 pm, Federal Building, 310 New Bern Avenue, Raleigh. Follow their Facebook page for more information on upcoming themes and actions.

Pollinator Garden Tours — May-October
480 Hillsboro Street, Pittsboro, at the Chatham Marketplace lawn
Join Agriculture Extension Agent Debbie Roos for fun and educational tours of the N.C. Cooperative Extension of Chatham County’s Pollinator Paradise Demonstration Garden. Tours are free and open to the public. More information and schedule here, including tours on July 10 and 26 this month.

Save the dates!
Sept 20-27 — Global Climate Strike!!
Inspired by Greta Thunberg, school strikers are calling on everyone: young people, parents, workers, and all concerned citizens to join massive climate strikes and a week of actions starting on September 20, to demand an end to the age of fossil fuels and emergency action to avoid climate breakdown. More details soon on Triangle-area actions, with the larger event taking place on September 20.
***Starting now, ask your employers and co-workers to join you in the Global Climate Strike September 20! Check out this letter by Bill McKibben and Naomi Klein and signed by many others, asking people to join in the strike!
Thanks for taking actions and I look forward to seeing some of you!!

Peace and love for our beautiful Earth, Karen