by John Downey Senior Staff Writer

A coalition of environmental, social justice and religious organizations plan acts of nonviolent civil disobedience to halt construction of Duke Energy Carolinas proposed 825-megawatt expansion at Cliffside.

The effort is being led by the Durham-based N.C. Waste Awareness and Reduction Network (N.C.WARN) and Asheville-based Canary Coalition. They say the environmental threat from the new coal plant is so great that it justifies more extreme action than the legal challenges that anti-Cliffside forces have already mounted.

Jim Warren, executive director of N.C. WARN, will not say specifically what kind of civil disobedience is planned. Because of the plant’s location 80 miles southwest of Charlotte, it may prove difficult to attract much attention. And the site is large and protected by security. So it is not clear whether that would be a prime location for demonstrations of the type the groups have in mind.

The group could also target Duke Energy Corp.’s (NYSE:DUK) Charlotte headquarters. That has been the scene of anti-Cliffside demonstrations in the past.

Duke spokesman Andy Thompson says the utility respects “everyone’s right to free speech ... to protest anything they disagree with. But we have zero tolerance for any illegal activities at any of our generation facilities.”

He says the company has no issue with legal demonstrations. But he says Duke works with local police and its own security operation to protect the company’s property and its employees. That will continue, he says.

Warren says the coalition is broader than the anti-Cliffside groups that have mounted the legal challenges. He says the coalition has decided to follow the lead of civil-rights activists in the 1950s and 1960s, engaging in nonviolent acts that could lead to arrests as a way of dramatizing their opposition to the plant.

Cliffside, scheduled for completion in 2012, is expected to cost $1.8 billion for construction, with about $600 million added for financing. The plant is on the border of Cleveland and Rutherford counties.

Warren and his coalition contend that increasing danger from global warming and other environmental problems demand immediate action. Cliffside, they say, will pour tons of carbon into the atmosphere. And Warren says the plant is not necessary for Duke to meet future electricity demand.

“The state and other officials have allowed this plant to proceed,” he says. “We have got to change this ‘business as usual’ thinking and stop construction of Cliffside.”