Links tagged “emissions”

“We have to move toward net-zero emissions,” Biden said. “The first place to do that by the year 2035 is in energy production. By 2050, totally.”

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Flashback: Growth will be a thing of the past if businesses choose ‘net zero’ emissions – ‘A blueprint for the extinction of capitalism as we know it’ - "There was more rationality to Soviet-style central planning, which at least had the aim of producing something of value rather than producing nothing."

EPA October 2020: From 2005 to 2018, total U.S. energy-related CO2 emissions fell by 12 percent.
And while the U.S. became the number one energy producer in the world.
In contrast, global energy-related CO2 emissions increased over 23.8 percent.
And since 1990, U.S. natural gas production has increased by 71 percent.
Over that period, methane emissions across the natural gas industry have fallen by 24 percent.
The United States saw the largest decline in energy-related CO2 emissions in 2019 on a country basis. In fact, U.S. emissions are now down almost 1 gigaton from our peak in 2000, marking the largest decline in energy-related CO2 emissions by any other country over that period (International Energy Agency).
Overall, U.S. energy-related carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions declined by 2.8% in 2019 (EIA).

Two massive rounds of layoffs mean nearly 20,000 people will soon be out of work at the hands of climate alarmism, as Royal Dutch Shell and BP struggle to afford their plans to reach net-zero emissions. They recognize the reality that so many in politics and public relations studiously ignore: A net-zero energy economy is prohibitively expensive and unreliable.

BBC: "The study shows that global lockdowns had a significant and immediate impact on emissions of greenhouse gases, with daily levels in April 2020 falling by 17% compared with 2019. But this steep drop hasn't been maintained. As the world returned to work, emissions rose and by June were within 5% of the previous year. Over 2020, the expectation is that emissions will fall 4-7%."

Rupert Darwall: “'Build back better'” is code for decarbonization—and the promise that, out of the ashes of a U.S. economy devastated by the coronavirus, a new economy will emerge under the beneficent guidance of the federal government, setting America on a path to net-zero greenhouse gas emissions. We don’t need to “build back” anything, though. America’s physical infrastructure is intact. Its power stations and energy infrastructure, its roads and bridges, its railways and airports are almost exactly as they were before the virus struck. We are not Germany in 1945, after Allied bombs had reduced it to rubble. COVID-19 has done no damage to American physical assets." ...

"The Green New Deal and Biden’s plan for net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 are the last things that a recovering economy needs. Mandating net-zero is the equivalent of imposing multi-trillion dollar tax hikes—and with not one cent for deficit reduction, the proceeds going instead to controlling the “global climate.” And there’s more. While America—with the glaring exception of California—already has all the energy it needs, Biden wants to spend $1.7 trillion on alternative energy, a gargantuan outlay that would pile on to an already rapidly growing federal deficit." ...

"Climate activists draw many spurious links between COVID-19 and climate change, but they have one thing in common: zero tolerance. For COVID-19 absolutists, society should be organized around the principle of zero Covid. For climate absolutists, society should be organized around the principle of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions." ... 

"We can see the collateral damage to the economy, to society, and to human freedom from the draconian measures adopted to contain this virus. On climate, Biden promises drastic action but avoids telling voters what it might mean. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is more honest. It says that net-zero requires “rapid, far-reaching and unprecedented changes in all aspects of society.” That’s true." 

BBC: A ban on new roads, gas power plants and incinerators is needed if Wales is to play a leading role in tackling climate change, a report from Friends of the Earth Cymru (FOEC). ... The charity's report, seen exclusively by BBC Wales, said ministers should set out to achieve effectively a 100% cut in climate-warming gases - known as a net-zero target - well before 2045. ...

To achieve the goal, it wants the government to set a rule for it not to invest in or give permission for any high carbon infrastructure such as new roads, gas power plants or incinerators...The use of fossil fuel energy should be banned with immediate effect for all new homes and public bodies told to divest their pension schemes from firms involved in coal, oil and gas. ...

Haf Elgar, FOEC director, said: "We urgently need to set targets that are in line with the international Paris agreement so that we don't go over 1.5 degrees of global warming.