of the century. He has also gently guided
theEdisonElectric Institute, a trade group
made up of companies that provide about
60 percent of America’s electricity, to en-
gage in thebattleagainst climate change.
Rogershasmanagedtobuildthesebridges
while servingat thehelmof a company that
derives 70 percent of its power from coal,
the dirtiest of fossil fuels. So why is he out
front calling for limiting carbon emissions?
He knows regulations are coming, and he
wants to be prepared. But EileenClaussen,
president of the PewCenter onGlobal Cli-
mate Change and Strategies for the Global
Environment (DukeEnergy andRogers are
on Pew’s Business Environmental Leader-
ship Council, along with 34 other major
corporations), sees something more in his
activism. “I thinkRogers, in a verypersonal
way, has takenon this issue,” she says.
Claussen thinks that Rogers represents
a new breed of CEO, onewho hasmade all
themoney he or she can spend and is look-
ing togivesomethingback, todosomething
meaningful for futuregenerations.Shegives
Rogerscredit forcarefullybringinghispart-
ners in the Edison Electric Institute along
thepathof acceptingcarbon limits. “Hewas
one of the first in his industry to come out
[
for regulation
]
,” she says. “But hewas care-
fulnot togoout so far thathecouldn’tbring
others along.He has been good at bringing
others along, and it hasn’t been easy.”
Claussen says thatRogers has pushed for
research on sequestering carbonduring the
makingofelectricity, something thathasnot
yet been done commercially. Rogers often
talks about future technology that will, he
hopes,offerways forDuke tocontinueburn-
ingcoal tomakeelectricitybuthave lessof a
negative impact on theenvironment.
“I’m an optimist,” Rogers said in an in-
terview earlier this year. “I think there are
solutions toproblems—maybenot perfect
solutions today, but over time, solutions
will improve. I think the probability that
we’ll get good solutions to climate change
— solutions that benefit both the planet
and industry — is higher if we face the
problem now than if we bury our heads in
denial. If you’re constantly trying to define
the problem, or deny it or dispute it, it gets
increasinglydifficultandcostly todevelopa
good solution.”
He admits that there are no easy solu-
tions, andhe says coal, because of its abun-
dance, will be apart of the energymix for a
long time.
Someopponents—andDukeEnergyand
Rogersdohaveopponentswhocontendthat
Rogersandhiscompanysayone thingwhile
doing another— suggest he’s an opportun-
ist trying to get ahead of the rest of the in-
dustry. Rogers understands the criticisms,
butheremainsfirm thatwithclean technol-
ogy, more efficiency, and regulations to cap
carbon emissions, a solution— though not
aperfect solution— canbe found.
“There is no silver bullet here,” Rogers
said. “Whatweneed ismore likesilverbuck-
shot, a lot of thingsworking together.”
JIMMORRISON
’sworkhasalsoappeared in the
NewYorkTimes
,
the
Wall Street Journal
, and
Smithsonian
magazine.
AW
away 25 billion foam cups each year.
}
Driving 10 fewermiles everyweekwould eliminate about 500pounds of CO
2
emissions a year.
}
Recipient of
three
consecutive
NYC’s
“Golden
Apple
Awards”
for Food
Safety
and
Cleanliness.
Wine
Spectator’s
“Best of
Awardof
Excellence”
Since 2001
Who said you
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TriBeCa
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316West
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Bet. 8th&9thAvenues
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5x775_5 8/29/07 10:54 AM Page 1
