Greenpeace Protesters Face Trespassing Charges in AshevilleFebruary 14, 2012 | A group of Greenpeace protesters face charges after hanging a banner on a Progress Energy smokestack in Asheville. Sixteen people are charged with misdemeanor trespassing. The group is protesting the use of coal at all Progress Energy and Duke Energy plants. Greenpeace spokeswoman Keiller MacDuff explains why the protestors targeted Progress' Asheville plant. Yesterday morning around 6 a.m., the protesters used ladders to climb over a security fence surrounding the Asheville Progress power plant near. They scaled a 400-foot smokestack and hung a banner that read, "Duke Energy the climate needs real Progress." MacDuff also says the group is against extracting the coal via mountaintop removal because they say it destroys the landscape and what is left of the extracted coals runs into nearby waterways, including the French Broad River. Progress Energy is also launching an internal investigation on how the protestors breeched its security system.
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