A Salary You'd Love to Not Have

Lest anyone doubt there's still money to be made in coal-fired electricity, witness the non-salary of Duke Energy Chairman and Chief Executive Jim Rogers, who will take home about $7.6 million this year, despite deciding to forgo a paycheck.

"His unorthodox pay package for a Fortune 500 executive included no salary or bonus, only stock awards valued at $5.45 million, according to the Charlotte-based utility's annual proxy filing Thursday," the News & Observer reported. "He also exercised stock options from Duke and gas spinoff Spectra Energy worth $1.7 million. In addition, he collected $496,271 in extras, including $157,000 in corporate jet expenses."

Rogers has made a name for himself in environmental circles for promoting the idea of a carbon tax, proposing a way to profit by promoting energy efficiency ... and building a new 800-megawatt coal-fired power plant that will not capture and store its carbon dioxide emissions.

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