Editor,

I’m a high school student worried about how climate change will affect my future. A study in the Lancet says I’m not alone: 59 percent of young people around the world feel anxiety about climate change. Each new climate-fueled disaster makes it worse. Hurricane Debby, which killed eight Americans, is just one recent example. In the face of such disastrous events, why isn’t the urgency of climate action evident?

My generation is counting on the adults in our communities to reduce their carbon footprint at home and where they work. This especially includes Mr. Stan Pinegar, president of Duke Energy, who is dragging his feet on clean energy. With NASA reporting July 22 as the hottest day on Earth, what has Duke been doing to stop climate change?

Duke generates less than 4 percent of its electricity from renewable sources (hydro, wind and solar). Nearly all still comes from fossil fuels (coal and gas), but they display pictures of wind and solar on their website and Facebook pages. They are greenwashing to mislead you about their pollutive practices.

And now, when we most need to combat the climate crisis, Duke is asking for a rate increase that includes no clean energy. My generation feels betrayed and let down by companies like Duke because they’re polluting our future and pocketing the profits.

It is horrible that Duke is asking to use customer money to help pollute the earth using coal and gas energy. I hope the adults in our community take a minute to submit a comment to the IURC to oppose the rate case and demand clean energy. It’s up to you to save our future. An easy way to way to do this is signing Sierra Club’s petition at sc.org/dukeistheworst or sending an email to [email protected].

Aarini Pareek, Carmel High School senior