New York Times (June 19)
“The timing of ‘Laudato Si’ could not have been better.” Nor could the compelling content on global warming. “Echoing the virtually unanimous findings of mainstream scientists, Pope Francis fixes the blame squarely on humans and their burning of fossil fuels.” But some U.S. politicians may remain too stubborn to change. “A pope in Rome worries about how we can shepherd the planet safely into the future. If only the senator from Kentucky and others in Congress could join him in thinking bigger.”
Tags: Congress, Fossil fuels, Global warming, Laudato Si, Pope Francis, U.S.
Financial Times (June 14)
“The slow pace of the shift away from fossil fuels is evidence of their compelling advantages in terms of cost and convenience. Tackling the threat of catastrophic climate change cannot rely on wind and solar power alone but requires multiple changes, including a shift within fossil fuels away from coal towards gas.”
Tags: Advantages, Climate change, Coal, Convenience, Cost, Fossil fuels, Gas, Shift, Solar, Wind power
Washington Post (April 25)
“The government should eliminate energy subsidies of all kinds — for fossil fuels as well as renewable energy. Then Congress should put a significant tax on carbon-dioxide emissions and set it to rise over time. The resulting market forces would decide how the economy would move to a greener state.”
Tags: CO2, Congress, Economy, Emissions, Energy subsidies, Fossil fuels, Government, Market forces, Renewables, Tax, U.S.
LA Times (March 12)
“California leads the pack with the share of electricity from renewable sources, more than doubling from 12% in 2008 to 25% today. In that period, private companies invested more than $20 billion in new renewable power plants here. California is home to the largest geothermal, wind, solar thermal and solar photovoltaic power plants in the world.” By2030, California is aiming to reach 50% renewable energy, after which fossil fuels will become “the alternative energy.”
Tags: Alternative energy, California, Electricity, Fossil fuels, Geothermal, Photovoltaic, Power plants, Renewable sources, Solar, Thermal, Wind
New York Times (November 23)
“We don’t need to change course, or kill jobs, or wage war on anybody or anything” to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. All we need to do is continue increasing energy efficiency, which has been key to economic progress. “Without energy productivity improvements, America’s energy needs would have tripled since 1970…. Actual growth was only one-fifth of that. Energy efficiency has emerged as the largest and cheapest alternative to burning fossil fuels to generate electricity.”
Tags: Economic progress, Efficiency, Electricity, Emissions, Energy, Fossil fuels, GHG, Growth, Jobs, Productivity, U.S., War
Washington Post (February 15)
“The United States sits atop seas of natural gas, a fuel that drives electric turbines, warms homes, heats water and even powers some big trucks. Much of this gas is in unconventional deposits that drillers have only begun to tap. Now that they have, the price of the fuel has plummeted and the United States has gone from a gas importer to a potential exporter, with decades of supply left…. The country can’t use natural gas forever, because it still produces some carbon dioxide. But gas can, for a time, serve as a low-cost alternative to dirtier fossil fuels in a program to steadily green the economy.”
Tags: CO2, Economy, Environment, Fossil fuels, Green, Natural gas, Supply, U.S.
Business Green (April 18)
A new report from McKinsey “predicts solar power will be cost competitive with fossil fuels in hot countries within two to three years.” Capacity is likely to double within five years. The consulting firm’s report also predicts that costs will decrease 10% annually through 2020 when “costs could decline to $1 per watt peak (Wp) for a fully installed residential system.”
Tags: Capacity, Costs, Fossil fuels, McKinsey, Solar
The Guardian (April 10)
CO2 emissions grab most the attention, but a study by the European Nitrogen Assessment indicates “nitrogen pollution costs every person in Europe €650 a year in damage to water, climate, health and wildlife.” Some of this damage comes from nitrogen used as fertilizer, but approximately “60% of the costs of nitrogen damage stem from fossil fuels burned for energy generation and transport.”
Tags: Fertilizer, Fossil fuels, Nitrogen, Pollution
