BIG ENERGY DUKES GLOBAL WARMING

Why is this not just a PR blurb? Because Duke Energy is one of the biggest players in the game, so Jim Rogers’ problems and limitations are ours.

Duke Energy Tackles Global Warming Issue; Duke Energy CEO Tells AP He Faces Dilemma in Balancing Demand for Power Against Global Warming
Leva M. Augstums (with Margaret Lillard), February 22, 2007 (AP via Yahoo Finance)

- Jim Rogers wants to do something about global warming. But the chief executive of Duke Energy Corp. also has a growing customer base that needs power now, and he says that means building more coal-fired plants.
- It's a dilemma faced by many in a position to significantly reduce carbon dioxide emissions…
- "My job is, when you throw on the switch, I need to be there," Rogers told The Associated Press…"While I've devised a plan to assure reliability, I also have to do the right thing for the environment."
- …Rogers has been one of the few utility executives to speak out publicly about the need to reduce carbon emissions.
- Last month, he joined chief executives of nine other major U.S. corporations -- including BP America Inc. and General Electric Co. -- to push Bush and Congress to address climate change. The group, known as the United States Climate Action Partnership, wants a nationwide limit on carbon dioxide emissions that would lead to reductions of 10 percent to 30 percent over the next 15 years…

- Bush's administration has also set a goal of reducing "greenhouse gas intensity," which measures the ratio of greenhouse gas emissions to economic output, by 18 percent by 2012.
- "That's good, but more can and should be done," Rogers said.
- The problem, Rogers and others said, is that the technology and infrastructure for alternative energy doesn't yet exist to substantially satisfy the energy demands of a country dependent on cars, computers and all kinds of modern electrical conveniences…
- Cellulosic ethanol, which Bush will promote Thursday, is made from waste, wood, plants and other biological products. While experts said the entire process from harvest to production to actually burning cellulosic ethanol instead of gasoline would lead to a 70 to 90 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, it remains experimental and commercial-size refineries are several years away…
- At Duke, the new nuclear power plants the company has suggested building -- hardly a favorite of the same environmental and consumer groups upset with Duke's desire to expand its coal-burning capacity -- are about a decade away from coming online.
In the meantime, Rogers has 3.9 million customers spread across several states…

- To meet that demand, Duke -- the nation's third-largest consumer of coal -- wants to spend $3 billion to build two coal-fired units…Opponents worry about the plant's effect on air quality and say Duke hasn't taken enough steps to generate more capacity through conservation…
- Rogers said Duke is working to avoid the adverse impact of its disproportionate reliance on coal, but the new plants are necessary to meet a booming market with a growing need for power…
- In the interim, he supports a so-called cap-and-trade system, which he said would create a financial incentive for reducing emissions by assigning a cost to polluting…
- "I've gotten past the problem," Rogers said. "I'm focusing on the solutions."