by Kate Melges
The Rainbow Warrior is in St. Petersburg, Florida welcoming nearly a thousand people to tour the ship and learn about our new campaignto change Duke Energy and Progress Energy. As these two companies seek a merger to create the largest electric utility in the country, they have a responsibility to lead the way and become the clean energy company the United States deserves. Although both companies claim to care about addressing global warming and moving toward clean energy, in reality Progress Energy and Duke Energy are still stuck on dangerous and dirty coal and nuclear power plants.
Many of the Tampa Bay area residents that toured the ship today get their electricity from Progress Energy, and we heard a lot from them about the kind of energy company they would like to see here. We talked about the nearby Crystal River coal plant, the biggest source of global warming pollution in Florida and whose pollution causes 76 deaths per year. Some folks wondered why Progress Energy plans to start increasing their electricity bills to pay for a new nuclear power plant that may or may not even be built.
We’re at it all weekend with more open boat tours, showing off our new ship and calling out dirty energy companies like Duke and Progress to stop stalling and start leading us to a clean energy future.
