In North Carolina, the town of Carrboro has filed a lawsuit against one of the country’s largest electric utilities, accusing Duke Energy of contributing to global heating and lying to the public about the climate crisis. It’s the first lawsuit of its kind in the United States. Plaintiffs say Duke Energy waged a “deception campaign” to hide the role of fossil fuels in exacerbating climate change, resulting in delayed action to curb the impacts of greenhouse gas pollution. The suit also alleges Duke continued to operate its coal and gas power plants despite learning about their harms nearly 60 years ago. Carrboro has faced intensifying extreme weather events including catastrophic flooding. Duke Energy operates six power plants in North Carolina and is the third-largest source of carbon dioxide in the U.S.