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U.S. exports its greenhouse-gas emissions — as coal. Profitable coal.
Full disclosure: I own shares of rail stocks. The coal from the Powder River Basin is mostly hauled by BNSF, which is owned by Warren Buffett.
The Americas
U.S. exports its greenhouse-gas emissions — as coal. Profitable coal.
By Joby Warrick October 15 at 2:51 PM
This is part of a series exploring how the world’s hunger for cheap electricity is complicating efforts to combat climate change.
Gillette, Wyo. — A few feet below this prairie town lies one of North America’s biggest coal deposits, a 100-foot-thick slab of brittle black rock spanning an area the size of Rhode Island — nearly all of it owned by the U.S. taxpayer.Just a dozen nearby mines, scattered across a valley known as the Powder River Basin, contain enough coal to meet the country’s electricity needs for decades. But burning all of it would release more than 450 billion tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere — more than all greenhouse-gas emissions from all sources since 2000.
The Obama administration is seeking to curb the United States’ appetite for the basin’s coal, which scientists say must remain mostly in the ground to prevent a disastrous warming of the planet. Yet each year, nearly half a billion tons of this U.S.-owned fuel are hauled from the region’s vast strip mines and millions of tons are shipped overseas for other countries to burn. Government and industry reports predict a surge in exports of Powder River coal over the next decade, at a time when climate experts are warning of an urgent need to reduce coal burning to prevent global temperatures from soaring.
Each shipment highlights what critics describe as a hypocrisy underlying U.S. climate policy: While boasting of pollution cuts at home, the United States is facilitating the sale of large quantities of government-owned coal abroad.
....
The production of electricity is the leading source of man-made greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, and the global demand for electricity, particularly in developing nations, will only grow. Coal accounts for 40 percent of the electricity produced globally — and more in China and India.
U.S. exports its greenhouse-gas emissions — as coal. Profitable coal.
By Joby Warrick October 15 at 2:51 PM
This is part of a series exploring how the world’s hunger for cheap electricity is complicating efforts to combat climate change.
Gillette, Wyo. — A few feet below this prairie town lies one of North America’s biggest coal deposits, a 100-foot-thick slab of brittle black rock spanning an area the size of Rhode Island — nearly all of it owned by the U.S. taxpayer.Just a dozen nearby mines, scattered across a valley known as the Powder River Basin, contain enough coal to meet the country’s electricity needs for decades. But burning all of it would release more than 450 billion tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere — more than all greenhouse-gas emissions from all sources since 2000.
The Obama administration is seeking to curb the United States’ appetite for the basin’s coal, which scientists say must remain mostly in the ground to prevent a disastrous warming of the planet. Yet each year, nearly half a billion tons of this U.S.-owned fuel are hauled from the region’s vast strip mines and millions of tons are shipped overseas for other countries to burn. Government and industry reports predict a surge in exports of Powder River coal over the next decade, at a time when climate experts are warning of an urgent need to reduce coal burning to prevent global temperatures from soaring.
Each shipment highlights what critics describe as a hypocrisy underlying U.S. climate policy: While boasting of pollution cuts at home, the United States is facilitating the sale of large quantities of government-owned coal abroad.
....
The production of electricity is the leading source of man-made greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, and the global demand for electricity, particularly in developing nations, will only grow. Coal accounts for 40 percent of the electricity produced globally — and more in China and India.
1 replies
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= new reply since forum marked as read
From the article:
… Even as exports have fallen because of the economic downturn in Asia, U.S. companies are building the infrastructure for what analysts think will be a booming export market by the end of the decade. …
The mining companies are going bankrupt at an alarming rate…
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-08-19/bankrupt-patriot-coal-finds-angel-in-former-foe-with-a-tree-plan
…
The dominant energy source since the Industrial Revolution, coal has been reeling in the U.S. under the three-headed assault of cheap natural gas, federal regulation and a tanking export market. Particularly in Appalachia, where costs are higher, coal producers are struggling to keep mines operating and stave off bankruptcy. A growing number have already failed.
…
The dominant energy source since the Industrial Revolution, coal has been reeling in the U.S. under the three-headed assault of cheap natural gas, federal regulation and a tanking export market. Particularly in Appalachia, where costs are higher, coal producers are struggling to keep mines operating and stave off bankruptcy. A growing number have already failed.
…
http://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.cfm?id=23052
