Contact
Liz Doherty, liz.doherty@sierraclub.org
Melissa Williams, melissa.williams@sierraclub.org
Charlotte, NC -- Tomorrow, Duke Energy, the second largest emitter of climate-polluting carbon dioxide in the country, will hold its Annual General Meeting (AGM) where it will face questions from shareholders on its failure on climate and racial justice. In the past two weeks, nearly 7,000 Sierra Club activists sent messages to top executives at Vanguard and BlackRock—Duke’s top two shareholders —to urge them to hold Duke accountable by voting against Chair and CEO Lynn Good and Lead Independent Director Michael Browning.
In the lead-up to this AGM season, the Sierra Club and partners have highlighted a slate of key votes on shareholder resolutions and corporate boards that would demonstrate whether BlackRock, Vanguard and other big investors are serious about their commitments to climate action. Last week, Vanguard and BlackRock voted to re-elect Wells Fargo Board Chairman Charles Noski, who has failed to lead the bank in a direction that matches the scale and urgency of the climate crisis. The Sierra Club criticized the votes, characterizing the asset managers' votes as failures “to live up to their rhetoric on climate action.”
Duke, which includes five investor-owned utilities, received an “F” grade in a recent Sierra Club analysis of its coal and gas fleet and plans for clean energy. Duke currently operates the largest coal fleet in the country and has plans to build the most fracked gas plants of any utility, despite abundant evidence underscoring the extreme danger posed to the climate by the fossil fuel. While Duke has announced plans to triple the amount of clean energy production by 2030, that goal would only put it at only 23 percent clean energy by the end of the decade. The industry average today is 18 percent clean energy.
“I’ve had to watch as my grandchildren struggle with respiratory problems created in no small part by Duke’s dirty power here in Charlotte. Duke will do everything but the right thing for our communities, and that direction comes from the top of the organization and its board. Lynn Good is simply unfit for climate leadership. Vanguard and BlackRock have made promises and Duke has made promises. We need action,” said Kurt Nichols, a retired grandfather living in Charlotte.
“There’s no time left for slow walking. Vanguard and BlackRock dragged their feet last week on bold climate action when they voted to re-elect the Chairman of Wells Fargo, the world’s top banker of fracking. Tomorrow, they have another chance to do right and use their massive power as the top two shareholders of Duke Energy to send a clear message that they are serious about confronting the climate crisis and will back their lofty rhetoric with meaningful action to hold this major polluter accountable,” said Ben Cushing, financial advocacy campaign manager at the Sierra Club.
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.