Climate Change / Global Warming Discussion

[ggies07]

This is ****ing depressing....sigh...

76 Environmental Rules on the Way Out Under Trump

Air pollution and emissions

OVERTURNED

1. Canceled a requirement for oil and gas companies to report methane emissions.

2. Loosened a Clinton-era rule designed to limit toxic emissions from major industrial polluters.

3. Directed agencies to stop using an Obama-era calculation of the “social cost of carbon” that rulemakers used to estimate the long-term economic benefits of reducing carbon dioxide emissions.

4. Revoked a 2015 rule that prohibited the use of hydrofluorocarbons – powerful greenhouse gases – as a replacement for ozone-depleting substances.

5. Repealed a requirement that state and regional authorities track tailpipe emissions from vehicles traveling on federal highways.
Transportation Department

6. Withdrew guidance for federal agencies to include greenhouse gas emissions in environmental reviews. (But several district courts have ruled that emissions must be included in such reviews.)

Drilling and extraction

OVERTURNED

19. Lifted a freeze on new coal leases on public lands.

20. Opened nearly all of America’s coastal waters to offshore oil and gas drilling.

21. Made significant cuts to the borders of two national monuments in Utah and recommended border and resource management changes to several more.

22. Revoked an Obama-era executive order protecting ocean, coastal and Great Lakes waters in favor of a policy focused on energy production and economic growth.

23. Rescinded water pollution regulations for fracking on federal and Indian lands.

24. Repealed an Obama-era rule governing royalties for oil, gas and coal leases on federal lands, which replaced a 1980s rule that critics said allowed companies to underpay the federal government.

25. Scrapped a proposed rule that mines prove they can pay to clean up future pollution.

26. Withdrew a requirement that Gulf oil rig owners prove they can cover the costs of removing rigs once they have stopped producing.

27. Approved the Keystone XL pipeline rejected by President Barack Obama. Environmental groups and some Nebraska landowners opposed the pipeline and legal challenges remain.

28. Approved the Dakota Access pipeline blocked by the Obama administration following protests at Standing Rock over concerns that the pipline poses a risk to the region's drinking water.

29. Reversed how the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission considers the indirect effects of greenhouse gas emissions in environmental reviews of pipeline

 

[AZ Desert Driver]

If you have the EPA headed by someone in the Coal Industry you have a problem.

Convert "you have a problem" to WE have a problem. So we got rid of one swamp creature and got another. what are WE going to do?

 

[DriverOne]

Good, clear, up to date presentation (first in a series).

 

[Merrill]

Why is it that most everyone with half a brain knows we need to go with green energy, yet we have a brainless president that is doing everything in his power to reverse that. Let’s hope that we will move forward in the correct direction in spite of this idiot.

 

[AZ Desert Driver]

Why is it that most everyone with half a brain knows we need to go with green energy, yet we have a brainless president that is doing everything in his power to reverse that. Let’s hope that we will move forward in the correct direction in spite of this idiot.

I think California has passed their own smog rules, their own mileage rules. Because thy are such a big market, car mfg will build to that market. A few other states have also adopted Calif specs. This seems to be driving the EPA nuts - How Dare They not follow our edicts?

So, If Calif can resist - and that the theme in power is States Rights...why not have more states rebuff, configure laws appropriate to that population. Granted, a uniform, national law system seems better than a piece wise system..but in this environment, going it alone seems wiser.

 

[mspohr]

The New York Times has an Editorial highlighting the fact that energy prices have decreased as more renewables come on line refuting the hysterical cries of deniers that renewables would be the end of civilization.
Opinion | Can You Guess These Three Surprising Energy Trends?

 

[SageBrush]

The New York Times has an Editorial highlighting the fact that energy prices have decreased as more renewables come on line refuting the hysterical cries of deniers that renewables would be the end of civilization.
Opinion | Can You Guess These Three Surprising Energy Trends?

It should be obvious that denialists are idiots, unless they are just scum like the Koch brothers or Trump.

 

[mspohr]

Investment in renewable energy drops as fossil fuel use rises
EIA says renewables investment has dropped. They cite regulatory uncertainty for wind and hydro and urge governments to follow up with action, not just talk.

 

[rays427]

It should be obvious that denialists are idiots, unless they are just scum like the Koch brothers or Trump.

This report says that the price of electricity has gone down 17% since 2007 and implies that it's the result of renewables. I guess that the price of natural gas falling by over 50% hasn't had any affect.

 

[Brando]

future threats

 

[mspohr]

This report says that the price of electricity has gone down 17% since 2007 and implies that it's the result of renewables. I guess that the price of natural gas falling by over 50% hasn't had any affect.

That may have been a factor but electricity from natural gas is still more expensive than coal (and some renewables) and most electricity comes from coal.

 

[SageBrush]

That may have been a factor but electricity from natural gas is still more expensive than coal (and some renewables) and most electricity comes from coal.

I'm under the impression that the migration from coal to NG by the electricity generation sector was driven by cost. So while a btu of NG of coal is cheaper than a btu of coal, the implication is that a kWh of electricity from NG is cheaper than a kWh of electricity from coal. The other side of the coin is the ability of NG plants to compete more successfully in the electricity spot markets due to their shorter cycling and startup times.

So due to a combination of factors, NG tends to beat coal on price. This is certainly true if a new plant is being considered and increasingly true even in the situation of a new NG plant VS an established coal plant, particularly if the coal plant is required to reduce emissions.

 

[mspohr]

Meat and dairy companies to surpass oil industry as world’s biggest polluters

“There’s no other choice. Meat and dairy production in the countries where the top 35 companies dominate must be significantly reduced,” said Devlin Kuyek, a researcher at GRAIN.

“These corporations are pushing for trade agreements that will increase exports and emissions, and they are undermining real climate solutions like agroecology that benefit farmers, workers and consumers."

When taken together, the world’s top five meat and dairy corporations are already responsible for more emissions than ExxonMobil, Shell or BP."

 

[mspohr]

I'm under the impression that the migration from coal to NG by the electricity generation sector was driven by cost.

 

[SageBrush]

( EIA graphic snipped)

Ignoring the out of date renewable prices, I read your chart as showing that NG is the cheapest electricity to generate (and does not of course reflect the overall higher value of NG electricity in the market.)

This EIA projection of LCOE in 2022 is interesting, insofar as it might reflect the thinking of corporations deciding what to build. Straight coal is not even calculated but the NG LCOE is, about around $50 per MWh.

 

[JRP3]

That may have been a factor but electricity from natural gas is still more expensive than coal (and some renewables) and most electricity comes from coal.

Isn't coal around 30% of the grid, making most electricity not from coal?

 

[mspohr]

Ignoring the out of date renewable prices, I read your chart as showing that NG is the cheapest electricity to generate (and does not of course reflect the overall higher value of NG electricity in the market.)

Agreed.

 

[SageBrush]

This is the Lazard 2017 analysis

 

[Brando]

Isn't coal around 30% of the grid, making most electricity not from coal?

What is U.S. electricity generation by energy source? - FAQ - U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA)
coal and CNG are near 30% each
Mapping how the United States generates its electricity

 

[mspohr]

Fossil fuel industry spent nearly $2 billion to kill U.S. climate action, new study finds

$2 billion lobbying since 2000 by fossil fuel industry has killed climate change legislation in the US