The Global Warming scammers have tentacles everywhere,
despite the fact that this politically transparent scam is an expensive
unproven theory. In the US, we have improved air quality.
Smog clogged cities
in China should be able to improve their own air quality. I believe the carbon
releases in our volcanoes and forest fires are more than sufficient, but there
is no link between carbon and climate. Our historic warming periods were
celebrated with better crop yields. Its “much ado about nothing”. Sloppy
decisions at Southern Company will disadvantage Georgia’s ability to attract
industries.
As a Georgia Power customer, I disagree with replacing 1 to
3 cent/kwh power generation with the 14 cent/kwh generation costs paid with
wind and solar. I prefer hydro at under 1 cent/kwh and believe we need the reservoirs.
I support coal at 2 cents/kwh, but want the slurry waste recycled. I support
nuclear at 2 cents/kwh, but want cheaper expansion costs. I support natural gas
generation at 3 cents/kwh.
I do not support wind and solar expansion for
Georgia Power, because it results in unnecessary consumer costs.
Wind, solar and thermal should be reserved for remote areas
that can live off the grid, like large ranches. This expensive equipment should
be paid for by the owners of these properties.
I doubt that man-made climate change is anything but a
hoax. I have seen no proof and believe it’s a scam. If you think the Board of
Southern Company is smart, you missed how they bungled the Vogtle Nuclear
expansion. See below.
NEW: Pay of skeptical Atlanta CEO now linked to greenhouse
gas reductions, by Matt Kempner, 4/26/19, AJC.
A number of
public companies are under pressure from shareholders to reduce their carbon
footprint. Relatively few corporations, though, have tied those efforts to CEO
pay.
For years, utility giant
Southern Company treated proposed government climate-change regulations like
they were teetering trees threatening power lines.
CEO Tom Fanning even
rejected overwhelming scientific understanding in 2017 when he said on CNBC it “certainly”
wasn’t proven that carbon dioxide, a pollutant that spews from some of the
company’s power plants, is the primary driver of climate change.
But, whether he’s
convinced of the emissions harm or not, Fanning now has a personal financial
stake in reducing them.
Southern’s
board of directors recently disclosed it plans to link part of his pay to
success in making further cuts in greenhouse gases discharged by Georgia Power,
AGL and other holdings of the Atlanta-based company.
Up to
$2 million of Fanning’s annual incentive compensation could be affected this
year, according to a recent company filing. His total compensation last year
was $13.1 million.
That Southern will be
one of them has amazed some, given that the company had been one of the most
potent fighters against government attempts to force businesses to cut
emissions. The company said such regulations were overreach, too demanding and
too costly for consumers and businesses. Southern also has been among the
heaviest spenders on lobbying Congress and the federal government.
“It is kind of
remarkable in a lot of ways in terms of where we first started,” said Sister
Patricia Daly, a Dominican nun, Southern shareholder and environmental activist
based in Montclair, N.J.
She and others have been
pushing Southern to deal with carbon for decades. They gained steam when
shareholders nearly passed a 2017 proposal, fought by the company, requesting a
report on how to make steep carbon cuts to meet international guidance. Daly
described Southern’s latest moves as just a first step, but also a serious
shift.
Already cutting carbon - Despite
its resistance on the regulatory front, Southern has been curbing its carbon
footprint in Georgia for years. That’s
the result of shifting economics that led Georgia Power and other utilities to
switch from heavy reliance on coal to cheaper natural gas, which tends to have
significantly lower CO2 emissions. Under pressure from state regulators and
business customers, the company also has put more
emphasis on carbon-free solar power.
And Southern is boosting
nuclear energy with the expansion of Plant Vogtle, south of Augusta. The
project is years behind schedule and billions of dollars over budget, costs that are likely to be
passed on to Georgia consumers and business. But the two new reactors will produce
more carbon-free power.
Additional carbon cuts
are on the horizon. A year ago, Southern unveiled its first companywide goals
to reduce CO2 emissions.
By 2030, the company
said, discharges will be half of what they were in 2007. The company had
accomplished much of that goal before it was announced, having sliced
greenhouse gas emissions in the preceding decade by 36 percent. It still
emitted more than 97 million metric tons of the gases in 2017.
Southern’s commitment
for “low- to no-carbon emissions” by 2050 may be a far steeper challenge.
The company said it
expects to close more coal units and rely more on natural gas-fueled plants,
nuclear power, renewables, energy efficiency and research into fresh options.
“Southern Company is
focused on developing and deploying technologies that reduce greenhouse gases
while making sure that energy remains clean, safe, reliable and affordable,” a
spokesman wrote in an emailed statement. “We believe this is the most
responsible approach for our customers, our communities and our shareholders.”
Still, Georgia Power
didn’t specifically factor in its parent company’s reduction goals when
it updated long-range energy
plans, one of the
utility’s executives recently said in a hearing with state regulators.
Growing pressure - Dan Bakal, a senior director at Ceres, a
sustainability nonprofit that works with investors, said Southern’s 2030 goal
“is not that ambitious” and the later goal is a bit vague. Nonetheless, he
said, “I do commend Southern Company for taking this step.”
While other large U.S.
companies include greenhouse gas reductions in broad scorecards about health,
safety and the environment, “very few tie it formulaically to short- or
long-term CEO compensation,” according to John Roe, head of ISS Analytics, an
arm of Institutional Shareholder Services.
Among the few that do
are Verizon Communications, Alcoa and Xcel Energy, Roe wrote in an email.
But pressure is growing.
Royal Dutch Shell announced that next year it will link executive compensation
to cutting emissions. And Chevron said reducing methane and flaring intensity
would become part of a scorecard tied to pay, according to Reuters.
Past doubt - Even as Southern uses money to motivate
its CEO on climate change issues, Fanning has left differing public impressions
about his own thoughts on the causes of climate change.
Two years ago,
during an appearance on CNBC, he was asked, “Do you think it has
been proven that CO2 is the primary climate control knob?”
“No, certainly not,”
Fanning replied. “Is climate change happening? Certainly. It’s been happening
for millennia. That’s not the issue.”
But a month later, when
talking about human-caused climate changes, Fanning said: “Does anthropogenic
CO2 emissions influence global warming? Well, most science says it does.
Absolutely.”
While there is debate
related to how much temperature change might be involved, he said, “I would say
that generally people believe – I believe – that anthropogenic CO2 emissions do
impact global warming.”
Asked by The Atlanta
Journal-Constitution to clarify specifically whether Southern’s leaders believe
carbon is the main driver of climate change, a company spokesman didn’t give a
clear affirmative or negative.
He wrote: “Southern
Company recognizes the importance of climate change for our nation and our
world and is committed to our low- to no-carbon goal.”
Norb Leahy, Dunwoody
GA Tea Party Leader
No comments:
Post a Comment