Doug Jackson, 202.495.3045, doug.jackson@sierraclub.org
Ricky Junquera, 617.599.7048, ricky.junquera@sierraclub.org
HALIFAX, Nova Scotia – Today, a group of people from the Tampa Bay area traveled 1800 miles to Halifax, Nova Scotia to demand Tampa Electric Company (TECO), abandon their plans to burn fracked gas and more coal at their Big Bend plant. Half a hemisphere away from the Sunshine State, the Floridians joined Canadian clean air and water advocates in a rally outside the Emera shareholders meeting. Emera is TECO’s parent company and is based in Halifax.
“These people standing beside me, along with many more back in Tampa, have tried on multiple occasions to meet with TECO to explain that the future of our city is at risk due to Emera and TECO’s plans,” said Gonzalo Valdes, an organizing representative with the Sierra Club and resident of the Tampa Bay area. “TECO has made it abundantly clear that they will only listen to their investors, so we decided we were going to show up to their stockholder meeting,” he added.
“We are here to say that Emera needs to deal with a crisis facing its investors that will hurt them deeper than a drop in their share prices, and that crisis is the climate crisis,” said Gretchen Fitzgerald, National Programs Director for the Sierra Club Canada Foundation. She added, "we cannot continue to burn coal until 2042 and mine forests in Nova Scotia. Emera, as a purchaser of power from Muskrat Falls, must do everything to prevent methyl mercury from hurting people downstream and commit to no investment in the even bigger megahydro project, Gull Island."
The crowd chanted “tell the truth, TECO,” and “come clean, Emera,” as each speaker concluded their remarks and at the end of the rally.
“Of the 10 cities most threatened by sea level rise, 5 are in the United States, 2 are in Florida and, because of our flat terrain and low elevation, Tampa is one of them,” said Kent Bailey, Group Chair of the Tampa Bay Sierra Club and Tampa resident. “Tampa is also at ground zero in the fight to end carbon pollution, a fight that has brought me to Halifax to confront the shareholders of TECO/Emera and say ‘Come Clean Emera’ and ‘Tell the Truth, TECO!’”
Today’s action was a part of the Sierra Club’s #TellTheTruthTECO campaign, a media, digital, and in-person series of actions holding TECO accountable for their plans to burn climate-disrupting fuels in the Tampa Bay area, despite Tampa’s status as one of the most climate change-vulnerable cities in the world. TECO’s plans for their Big Bend plants include elevating portions of them by 14 feet and building a sea wall to try and protect them from sea level rise, despite burning the very fuels that cause sea level rise and doing nothing to protect the surrounding community.
Valdes, Bailey, and other Tampa residents are available for interviews and photos and video can be provided upon request.
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About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with more than 3.5 million members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.