Emily Bosch emily.bosch@sierraclub.org
ATLANTA, GA -- Southern Company is greenwashing its climate commitment, and a new ad campaign by Sierra Club seeks to hold the utility accountable for its promises and alert ratepayers to the utility’s role in preventing a transition to clean energy.
The campaign launches this week with a six-figure ad buy in Atlanta, headquarters of Southern Company, as well as in the media markets of other poor performing utilities in Phoenix, Charlotte, Denver, Salt Lake City, and St Louis. The national campaign is live online at https://www.sierraclub.org/dirty-truth
The ad is based on the Sierra Club’s “Dirty Truth” report, released earlier this year, that examined how utilities are failing to deliver on climate pledges. Southern Company made a bold promise to reach “net zero” carbon emissions by 2050, yet the company’s subsidiaries in each state are not taking the steps necessary to decarbonize. According to the analysis, Southern Company and all of its subsidiaries (Alabama Power, Georgia Power, and Mississippi Power) received an “F” grade for continuing to burn coal at several plants, building new gas plants, and failing to make significant investments in renewable energy.
The next decade is critical to averting the worst impacts of the climate crisis and transforming our economy to run entirely on clean energy. Unless utilities retire all their coal plants by 2030, abandon all plans to build new gas plants, and aggressively build out renewable energy resources, we risk destabilizing our livable climate.
David Rogers, Southeast Deputy Regional Director for the Beyond Coal Campaign, issued the following statement:
“Utility companies are responsible for massive amounts of carbon emissions, yet they often skate above the fray when it comes to blame for the climate crisis. Southern Company operates some of the largest and dirtiest coal plants in the country with no retirement dates in sight while the utility plans to build more plants that burn so-called 'natural gas,' a product of fracking that releases methane, a potent greenhouse gas. Southern’s own material actions prove that its 'net zero by 2050' commitment is greenwashing, and relies on unproven, expensive technology like carbon capture that will unnecessarily drive up customers' bills. It’s long past time for ratepayers to understand the true extent of Southern Company’s intransigence against embracing real climate action.”
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.