In Obama's new Clean Power Plan there is an important but little noticed pivot that could have huge consequences..that is if it's not too late.
The change is a pivot away from natural gas fracking and nuclear energy toward the real sustainables such as solar and wind.
Perhaps the White House has been paying attention and noticed that its 'all of the above' energy policy with emphasis on natural gas (fracking) as a transition bridge fuel has been a total failure especially since CO2 emission reductions attributed to natural gas/fracking have been proven to be a myth. Obama's chosen Head of Energy Dr. Moniz pushed it, Obama's State Dept under SoS Hillary Clinton sold it around the world before finding out about the environmental consequences of fracking and before considering how bringing investment to support building permanent infrastructure for natural gas and fracking around the world would substantially slow investment for solar and wind worldwide.
So now they are backtracking.
From The Guardian UK
Monday’s version of the rules also gives an explicit boost to wind and solar power, angering the natural gas industry which will still be a large beneficiary of the switch from coal to gas-fired power plants, which produce much lower emissions.
America’s Natural Gas Alliance, a trade body, said it was “disappointed and discouraged” by the rules. The World Coal Association claimed the plan “will significantly increase the cost of electricity to American consumers.” The Solar Energy Industries Association, on the other hand, said the rules were “historic” and “critically needed”.
The new rules will give a “give a head start to wind and solar deployment”, according to a White House fact sheet. “Drive more aggressive investment in clean energy technologies than the proposed rule, resulting in 30% more renewable energy generation in 2030 and continuing to lower the costs of renewable energy,” it said.
Nuclear Power proponents also
not happy
The final version of President Obama’s Clean Power Plan does not include aid to existing nuclear power plants at risk of closing because they can’t compete with cheaper natural gas and renewables—a list that includes some of the nation’s most controversial reactors, including Indian Point and Three Mile Island.
In the draft version, EPA had proposed allowing states to count 6 percent of existing nuclear generation toward their clean energy goals, a provision designed to rescue the 6 percent of nuclear capacity considered at risk.
“On further consideration, we believe it is inappropriate to base the BSER (Best System of Emission Reduction) on elements that will not reduce CO2 emissions from affected electric generating units below current levels,” EPA states in the final rule.
We still have over
1.1 Million active gas and oil wells in US that were hydraulically fractured and who knows how many
worldwide. So those will have to be transitioned to sustainable energy.
We've lost too much time in promoting 'all of the above' energy plan. At this time we don't know how that will cost us. At least we have made the turn.