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[ToxicAdam]

Behold, the power of shale:

PITTSBURGH — In a surprising turnaround, the amount of carbon dioxide being released into the atmosphere in the U.S. has fallen dramatically to its lowest level in 20 years, and government officials say the biggest reason is that cheap and plentiful natural gas has led many power plant operators to switch from dirtier-burning coal.

Many of the world’s leading climate scientists didn’t see the drop coming, in large part because it happened as a result of market forces rather than direct government action against carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas that traps heat in the atmosphere.

Michael Mann, director of the Earth System Science Center at Penn State University, said the shift away from coal is reason for “cautious optimism” about potential ways to deal with climate change. He said it demonstrates that “ultimately people follow their wallets” on global warming.

“There’s a very clear lesson here. What it shows is that if you make a cleaner energy source cheaper, you will displace dirtier sources,” said Roger Pielke Jr., a climate expert at the University of Colorado.

In a little-noticed technical report, the U.S. Energy Information Agency, a part of the Energy Department, said this month that total U.S. CO2 emissions for the first four months of this year fell to about 1992 levels.

A frenzy of shale gas drilling in the Northeast’s Marcellus Shale and in Texas, Arkansas and Louisiana has caused the wholesale price of natural gas to plummet from $7 or $8 per unit to about $3 over the past four years, making it cheaper to burn than coal for a given amount of energy produced. As a result, utilities are relying more than ever on gas-fired generating plants.

Both government and industry experts said the biggest surprise is how quickly the electric industry turned away from coal. In 2005, coal was used to produce about half of all the electricity generated in the U.S. The Energy Information Agency said that fell to 34 percent in March, the lowest level since it began keeping records nearly 40 years ago.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/natio...c787da-e7ca-11e1-9739-eef99c5fb285_story.html

 

[Rentahamster]

Add some nuclear, and we got a stew going.

 

[Onion_Relish]

B-BUT THE CNN COMMERCIALS TOLD ME THAT CLEAN COAL WAS AMERIKUHS POWER!

This is brilliant news though. The more eco friendly and renewable our energy supplies get the more we can work on fixing other problems. One step at a time.

Also, does this mean Obama is going to take credit and secure the green vote?

 

[Skellig Gra]

Good news, I always hated how they called it "clean" coal. What a misnomer.

 

[Ferrio]

Then why we still got monkeys?

 

[BertramCooper]

Both government and industry experts said the biggest surprise is how quickly the electric industry turned away from coal. In 2005, coal was used to produce about half of all the electricity generated in the U.S. The Energy Information Agency said that fell to 34 percent in March, the lowest level since it began keeping records nearly 40 years ago.

It's not all that surprising, to be honest. EPA mandated tougher emissions levels and the utilities were too cheap to add scrubbers and other environmental controls to their coal plants. So they just shut them down entirely.

 

[You Are Viewtiful]

Hyrdo and nuclear are the future.

 

[commedieu]

So America has its own atmosphere now? Separate from Canada/Mexico....some how..?

 

[mackattk]

Add some nuclear, and we got a stew going.

This. I don't know why the US is so scared of using nuclear as power. There are so many fail-safes that the chance for something to go wrong is miniscule.

 

[Rentahamster]

So America has its own atmosphere now? Separate from Canada/Mexico....some how..?

Huh?

 

[Zhengi]

Now we just need countries like Germany to spend a lot more money on Solar and Wind power to make it super cheap so we in the US can benefit from it.

This. I don't know why the US is so scared of using nuclear as power. There are so many fail-safes that the chance for something to go wrong is miniscule.

One word: Japan.

 

[injurai]

So America has its own atmosphere now? Separate from Canada/Mexico....some how..?

It sure seems that China has their own atmosphere.

 

[Omegasquash]

Nuc-yu-lar, not nuc-le-ar.

Come on, folks.

 

[bjork]

Can we use the coal to power an air conditioner for earth? I don't know where you live, but it's hot as fuck here.

 

[jerry1594]

Is getting shale incredibly damaging to the environment?

 

[Tashi]

Nice work everyone

 

[J-Rod]

“There’s a very clear lesson here. What it shows is that if you make a cleaner energy source cheaper, you will displace dirtier sources,” said Roger Pielke Jr., a climate expert at the University of Colorado.

Imagine that.

 

[injurai]

Nuc-yu-lar, not nuc-le-ar.

Come on, folks.

new-clear