FROM THE NEWSWIRE: May 25, 2008 - Charlotte, NC Today, activists with Asheville Rising Tide broke ground on a new 800 Mw clean energy power plant in Duke Energy CEO Jim Rogers front yard. The power plant will tap into a previously unexplored energy source known as hot air which has been found in large concentrations at Roger's residence, 330 Eastover Rd, Charlotte, NC. "The hot air emitting from Jim Rogers mouth has been around for quite some time, but the last couple of years has seen an exponential growth of this untapped energy source as Rogers parades around the country calling for greenhouse gas reductions while building the dirty Cliffside coal plant. This was simply an opportunity we couldn't pass up," said Jill Rockingham, chief engineer for the project.

Asheville Rising Tide is actively looking for donations. Anything helps!

FROM THE NEWSWIRE: At 6:30 this morning, North Carolina residents locked themselves to bulldozers to stop the construction of Duke Energy's massive Cliffside coal-fired power plant being built 50 miles west of Charlotte, NC. "In the face of catastrophic climate change, building a new coal plant is tantamount to signing a death sentence for our generation," said local farmer Matt Wallace, while locked to a bulldozer. The concerned citizens also roped off the construction site with "Global Warming Crime Scene" tape and held banners that read "Coal Fuels Climate Change" and "Social Change, not Climate Change."

Shortly after activists locked themselves to construction equipment, police arrived on the scene and used pain compliance holds and tazers to force them to unlock themselves.

The act of civil disobedience is one of over 100 protests taking place around the world on what climate activists are calling Fossil Fools Day, a confrontational day of protest targeting companies responsible for runaway carbon dioxide emissions. The day of action was organized by the international Rising Tide network and its allies to demand an end to the extraction and burning of fossil fuels and a just, rapid transition to sustainable ways of living. In Nottingham, UK, climate activists blockaded the offices of E-on, a company trying to build a new generation of coal-fired power stations, while another group in Wales halted work at one of the biggest opencast coal mines in Europe.

FROM THE NEWSWIRE: Fossil Fools Day, April 1st: International Day of Action Against the Fossil Fuel Empire

The International Rising Tide network and its allies are calling for a day of action against the fossil fuel industry on April 1st 2008…FOSSIL FOOLS DAY!

Confronted with melting ice caps, unprecedented species extinction, droughts, and extreme weather the fools at the head of the fossil fuel empire continue to plunder the earth, with the governments as willing court jesters at their side.

Been feeling like the level of climate activism in this country hasn’t matched the severity of the climate crisis? Well- so have we.

It’s time we ask ourselves, how serious are we about stopping climate change?

Two people got arrested this morning in Charlotte protesting the new Cliffside coal-fired power plant that Duke Energy is building. Both arrestees are safely out of jail. More money is still needed for further fees, fines, and travel expenses.

Press release: North Carolina Students Arrested Blocking the Entrance to Duke Energy Headquarters
Photos: Charlotte Action Photos
Video: Video from Charlotte action
Fundraising plea: 2 Arrested at North Carolina Coal Plant Protest Legal Funds Needed Immediately

Other media: Charlotte Observer, It's Getting Hot in Here, Winston-Salem Journal, Asheville Citizen-Times, MyrtleBeachOnline, The News & Observer, WRAL, digitriad.com, ABC 13 [Western NC], WIS 10 [Columbia, SC], The Daily Reflector, The Herald Sun, Trading Markets