A North Carolina town is suing the state’s dominant power provider, Duke Energy, becoming the first U.S. community to sue an electric utility for the ravages of climate change.
Carrboro, North Carolina, filed suit Wednesday in Orange County Superior Court, charging that the energy giant knew about the dangers of burning fossil fuels but misled the public, leaving the small town to grapple with millions of dollars in climate-related expenses.
“The corporation has disregarded the immense harms it has imposed on our town and other communities across North Carolina and the country by working against reducing the use of fossil fuels,” Carrboro Mayor Barbara Foushee said at a press conference. “Duke has profited greatly while our community has suffered the consequences and paid for climate damages.”
Foushee said the decision to sue the Charlotte-based company wasn’t easy, but that the Town Council had voted unanimously to do so.
