Ten years ago the big debate was whether we should adopt a comprehensive strategy to limit greenhouse gas emissions... [H]owever, technology has been coming to our rescue. The single biggest source of greenhouse emissions, the thing we really need to stop, is coal-fired electricity generation (which has lots of other public health costs too.) And a funny thing happened: coal-fired power became uneconomical. Instead of building new plants, we’re retiring old ones. Partly this was the result of cheap natural gas thanks to fracking. Increasingly, however, we’re looking at the effects of the technological revolution in renewables, which has produced spectacular declines in the cost of wind and solar power. Even if you believe in the sanctity of free markets — which you shouldn’t — you should recognize that markets are now driving a great transition to clean energy.
Coal, Cash and Bad Faith
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