We interviewed Knight Center graduates Amanda Peterka (BA ’09) and Hannah Northey (MA ’07) about a book they contributed to as reporters for Environment & Energy Publishing in Washington D.C. They also described what it’s like working for the news service and how to prepare for a career in environmental journalism.
Q: Who was the most interesting person you met while reporting for this book?

Amanda Peterka: We spoke only by phone, but it has to be the former head of the Biofuels Center for North Carolina, W. Stephen Burke. He seemed grateful that I called out of the blue to ask for his story, and when we spoke he chose each word very thoughtfully and deliberately. He writes emails as if he were writing a letter, very formal with the date written out at the top and an electronic signature at the bottom. And I only found this out at the end of our conversation, but he owns the country’s largest collection of miniature folk art houses. I immediately knew he had to be my lede in my chapter on biofuels.

Hannah Northey: Jim Rogers, a charismatic and loquacious man who served as president and CEO of Duke Energy for seven years, was an interesting interview – both for what he said and what he didn’t say. Rogers has been burnishing his reputation as an influential and progressive utility executive willing to tackle climate change since he stepped down at Duke. He’s now a familiar face among D.C. energy circles, known for his comments about embracing distributed solar energy and greening the U.S. electric grid. I asked Rogers about criticism that he was leaving a fossil-heavy legacy at Duke despite his call to embrace renewables. Rogers blamed climate-denying Republicans and outdated regulations. Rogers’ view into such a large and complex utility that has a lot of weight in North Carolina was enlightening – it also flies in the face of critics who say Rogers himself didn’t try hard enough to push renewables. Others, notably, have said Rogers just couldn’t “turn the Duke ship.”
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