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Wednesday, October 1, 2014

Chinese Consumerism, U.S. Power Plants, Carbon Consumption & Wildlife Kill-Off

EPA: Emissions from power plants up... "Greenhouse gas emissions from power plants rose last year partly because of an increase in coal used for generating electricity, the Environmental Protection Agency said Tuesday. In all, emissions from large facilities across all industrial and economic sectors rose 0.6 percent in 2013, the EPA said....Power plants are the largest source of emissions....The news comes just days after the Energy Department said carbon dioxide emissions rose 2.7 percent the first six months of this year compared with the first half of 2013. The EPA has floated a proposal to reduce power plant emissions 30 percent below 2005 levels by 2030." Zack Colman in the Washington Examiner.
...and emissions from oil and gas operations down — with a caveat. "Greenhouse gas emissions from oil and natural gas production and distribution declined 1 percent between 2012 and 2013, the EPA’s data show. A major part of that decline included a major drop in methane emissions from oil and gas development. Methane is about 35 times more potent as a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide over a 100-year timeframe....The data include only emissions that the industry reported to the EPA. Studies published recently have shown, however, that large quantities of methane may be leaking from oil and natural gas drilling, production and distribution sites." Bobby Magill in Climate Central.
We’ve killed off half the world’s animals since 1970, and our carbon consumption is a big reason why. "The declines are almost exclusively caused by humans' ever-increasing footprint on planet earth....The only reason we're able to run above max capacity — for now — is that we're stripping away resources faster than we can replenish them. Carbon consumption — the burning of fossil fuels — represents a huge and growing chunk of the demand we put on the earth....At the country level, China is now the leading drain on the earth's resources. China accounts for nearly 20 percent of the overall demand, with the U.S. a distant second at 13.7 percent." Christopher Ingraham in The Washington Post.
We’ve killed off half the world’s animals since 1970, and our carbon consumption is a big reason why. "The declines are almost exclusively caused by humans' ever-increasing footprint on planet earth....The only reason we're able to run above max capacity — for now — is that we're stripping away resources faster than we can replenish them. Carbon consumption — the burning of fossil fuels — represents a huge and growing chunk of the demand we put on the earth....At the country level, China is now the leading drain on the earth's resources. China accounts for nearly 20 percent of the overall demand, with the U.S. a distant second at 13.7 percent." Christopher Ingraham in The Washington Post.


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