Effectively reducing carbon emissions is a lot harder than saying you will
07/01/13 Minn Post | www.minnpost.com
07/01/13 Minn Post | www.minnpost.com
President Barack Obama’s announcement that coal plants will limit carbon-dioxide emissions and actually doing it are not the same. Carbon capture doesn’t work, and wind and solar don’t replace fossil-fuel power plants. We are switching to natural gas from coal; this reduces carbon-dioxide emissions because natural gas burns hydrogen as well as carbon to provide energy. The hydrogen turns into water vapor.
It’s easy for politician lawyers of either party to make pronouncements. The actual science is a lot tougher. I didn’t hear a word from the president about unpopular but effective tough measures like carbon taxes – or about new non-emitting nuclear plants that Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz advocates.
Don’t hold your breath (4 percent carbon dioxide) for any real reductions in emissions.
Rolf Westgard, St Paul
URL to article: https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2013/07/01/effectively-reducing-carbon-emissions-is-a-lot-harder-than-saying-you-will/