RALEIGH, N.C. (CN) — A business court judge ended a North Carolina town’s lawsuit against utilities giant Duke Energy Thursday evening.
Carrboro, North Carolina, a small town north of Raleigh, sued the company in December 2024, claiming it is causing and accelerating climate change. Duke has attempted to conceal the dangers of climate change from the public, it said, despite understanding the dangers of fossil fuel emissions since 1968.
The town said Duke is misleading the public over the causes and consequences of climate change and has “materially slowed the transition away from fossil fuels and toward renewable energy,” by failing to timely retire coal plants, increasing reliance upon natural gas and refusing to make meaningful investments in clean energy. The effects of climate change has led to increased storms, which have damaged the town’s municipal property and infrastructure, which, it argued, entitles it to compensation…