Pollution Superstar #1: Jim Rogers and Duke Energy

Wow. Where do we even start with Jim Rogers and Duke Energy? Maybe it’s Jim’s active opposition to last year’s federal global warming bill? Or his court fight against an EPA plan to reduce power plant emissions of deadly pollutants? Or how about his vocal opposition to President Obama’s plan to auction off carbon credits and reduce global warming emissions?

But really, that’s all to be expected from the CEO of Duke Energy, right? After all, they are the company that is trying to build a new coal-fired power plant in western North Carolina.

What really gets our goat is his repeated attempts to greenwash himself and the company. Think Progress calls him the “master of doublespeak” and Grist has dubbed him “the most adept figure in corporate America at making himself look better than he is”.According to a glowing New York Times profile, Jim Rogers is ”one of the electricity industry’s most vocal environmentalists” (not a hard distinction to earn, by the way) with a vision for making Duke Energy carbon-free by 2050. While we’d love it if the description of Jim Rogers as a “Green Coal Baron” were true, we just can’t square it with his actions over the past few years.

And we just have to leave you with our favorite quote from that great New York Times piece: “Sometimes I tell people that Duke is really just a company that processes chemicals to produce clean air, and we get electricity as a byproduct” – Jim Rogers. Sure.

Who do you think should be a Pollution Superstar?  Let us know who and why in the comments.  And don't forget to make a donation today!