Natural gas a clean transition to renewables
Updated 5:28 pm, Friday, February 1, 2013
Seven years ago, I was hired by the Environmental Defense Fund to fight against more than 100 new coal-fired power plants proposed across the United States. Today, these plants are dead. New coal construction has ground to a halt, and our focus has shifted from fighting new coal plants to pressuring existing coal plants to close.
Big progress in the fight against air pollution and global warming? You bet. Tireless advocacy by many made it happen. But I must confess that our fight was made easier by the sudden emergence of abundant natural gas. Simply put, the economics of new and existing coal plants are poor at today's natural gas price.
But here's the catch.
While there is no question that natural gas burns cleaner and has roughly half the carbon content of coal, natural gas has its own challenges.
Producing new supplies of natural gas entails fairly significant risks to public health and the environment if done wrong, and natural gas can have a substantial greenhouse gas footprint in its own right. So what can be done?
First, we need strong regulations and enforcement to ensure that oil and gas producers do the job right. Things like proper well construction and waste management can do much to minimize risk. Second, we must strive to find and eliminate leaks. Natural gas is primarily methane - a powerful greenhouse gas many times more potent than carbon dioxide. Even small leaks rapidly can accelerate global warming. Third, we must double down on our use of clean, low-carbon energy sources in the electric-power sector.
Natural gas, done right, has advantages over coal, but it is still a fossil fuel. The ultimate solution to our climate crisis is efficient use of zero-carbon energy. Energy efficiency and renewables are the true keys to that future.
Mark Brownstein is the associate vice president and chief counsel of the Environmental Defense Fund's energy program.