In his inauguration speech Obama 2.0 made a very big deal about pushing for legislation to get behind the curve on greenhouse gas emissions and climate change legislation. The far left environmentalists are giddy with righteous indignation.
Even Wall Street likes the idea. There was a featured story on MarketWatch today, “Obama Must Act Not Just Talk Climate Change.”
All the drive bys are afraid to think about the latest news from the energy industry. So many electric power plants have converted to natural gas that our carbon footprint is now better that it was in 1994. So much for Obama’s ambitions for another $1 trillion mega-policy.
Traditionally utilities use coal-fired plants to generate electricity. Coal is a very dirty fuel. The fracking boom has driven the price of natural gas so low that many utilities are converting to natural gas as an energy source. Natural gas burns a lot cleaner than coal.
The big problem with climate change is China. They’re building 2-3 coal-fired electric utility plants PER WEEK. They will continue to do so for the next ten years to meet their growing demand for electricity. They don’t have access to natural gas.
China emits 26% of the carbon emissions in the world, followed by the United States at 18%. However, the United States has 3 million acres of forestland (6 million if you include Canada), and China just 1.8 million. Since trees capture carbon, they offset any carbon emissions when you’re calculating a nation’s overall “carbon footprint.”
Altogether North America has a lot better carbon footprint than our emissions indicate. Because you have to deduct the carbon that is capture by our forests. The southern forests along the Gulf Coast provide lumber for the whole industrialized world.
It’s China who’s the world’s smokestack. If any nation needs to tackle their carbon emissions it’s China. Pity we can’t just give Obama to the ChicComs.
They probably don’t want him either.
