Dear NRDC Activist,

U.S.-based energy giant General Electric (GE) calls itself a leader in "the future of energy" and publicly supports the Paris climate agreement. However, GE is, in fact, doubling down on the ultimate dirty energy of the past — coal.

Right now, GE is involved in plans to build more than a dozen new coal-fired power plants around the world — including plants so dirty that they violate local pollution control standards, or so uneconomical that the World Bank refused to fund one of them.

If built, these dirty coal power plants will lock in decades of climate pollution, fossil fuel dependence, and dangerous air pollution.

Call on CEO Lawrence Culp Jr. to immediately end GE's involvement in these coal plants, end its investments in ALL coal projects, and prioritize clean energy technologies — such as wind turbines and battery storage — to help fight climate change.

Coal is one of the dirtiest fossil fuels and a key driver of climate change. Last year's groundbreaking Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report made clear that we MUST phase out the use of coal entirely by 2050 if we're to have any chance of staving off the worst impacts of the climate crisis.

It has been years since a major coal plant was built in the US, but that hasn't stopped GE from pushing other countries to build more coal plants.

Four particularly alarming projects involving GE are currently under consideration by developers, regulators, and financiers. These are:

• The first-ever coal plant in East Africa, to be located next to a UNESCO World Heritage site in Lamu, Kenya
• A coal plant in Kosovo from which the World Bank withdrew after determining that renewables would be more affordable
• A coal plant in Bosnia and Herzegovina that does not comply with European Union finance standards and violates the union's pollution control rules
• A coal plant in Vietnam that has been delayed following the imposition of U.S. sanctions on a Russian project contractor

Tell GE that if it's not acceptable to build coal plants in America, they shouldn't be profiting from it abroad either.

Many of the projects involving GE have highly questionable payoffs and major social harms — threatening public health and economic stability in these countries. Coal plants are a known driver of premature deaths due to respiratory and other illnesses, and it's well-documented that coal-fired power plants are major contributors to climate change.

With the Climate Strike and the UN Climate Action Summit in New York right around the corner, we need government, business, and civil society to commit to taking greater action on climate change. Before the Summit convenes, GE should put forward a new plan for leading a decarbonized future, and STOP peddling outdated technology to countries that deserve better, and truly cleaner, energy solutions.

Send a message to GE CEO Lawrence Culp Jr., imploring him to scrap these investments in coal and have GE live up to its commitments to the Paris climate agreement by prioritizing clean energy technology worldwide.

Thanks for standing with us at this critical moment,

Sincerely,

Han Chen
Program Advocate, NRDC