Two banners were flown on the Greenpeace blimp stating, "Duke: Don't Raise Rates for Dirty Energy" and "Cleaner is Cheaper". Greenpeace has been protesting against organizations that fail to use renewable energy and as part of the campaign is putting its efforts in opening the world's eyes to the coal powered energy that companies such as Duke are producing.

Duke Energy spokesman Greg Efthimiou Wired: "Greenpeace can't have it both ways. Cleaning up its energy sources requires extra dough. Duke Energy has argued that its emissions have been reduced as it's upgraded its power plants to meet environmental standards.

Greenpeace spokesman David Pomerantz told Wired:"It would make sense for the tech giant [Apple] to join the chorus of people in the state who are now pushing Duke to retire its coal plants and start investing heavily in clean energy," suggesting that Apple should be leading the discussion for cleaner energy.

Apple has not responded to the claims made by Greenpeace's Pomerantz, although the company has previously directed media to its page that reports environmental impact of its products.

A more public commitment to the environment has been a priority for Apple since 2007, when Jobs In it, he fought back against criticisms by environmental organizations such as Greenpeace, which had taken the company to task for not doing enough to reduce the use of toxic substances in its products. Jobs said the company would soon be ahead of its competitors in that realm, and promised improving its recycling goal--a milestone it ended up beating a year ahead of schedule.