It is not hard, when it comes to climate change, to see signs for grave concern and pessimism. Ice is in retreat and decline globally. The oceans are acidifying. Habitats are moving up hill and moving away from the equator. The reality of climate chaos is with us and the end of COP15 without a “fair, aggressive, and binding” treaty to set the world on a path toward 350 ppm (as unlikely as it was to have happened there) distresses many.
Yet, whether from exciting new Energy COOL technologies or nations making new commitments for emission reductions to other items, there are many signs of progress, of steps moving forward.
One of those comes from the notable retreat of coal in the United States of America. “Clean Coal” might be the rallying cry for those seeking to etch in stone coal’s future, the truth is that coal is a lessening part of the US electrical system (down to 42%, from over 50%, due to lower natural gas prices and the speeding introduction of renewable electricity) and looks to be a decreasing part of tomorrow’s electrical grid.
For the first time since electricity became a player in the US energy system, there were , in 2009, no ground-breakings for new coal-fired electricity generation facilities in the United States.
That’s right: None! Nada! Zippo!
And, this could well be a significant sign of the turning of the tide against coal.
Since the beginning of the coal rush in 2001 when there were more than 150 proposed coal plants announced, 111 proposed new coal plants have been defeated or abandoned, keeping over 450 million tons of carbon dioxide out of the air each year.
Bruce Nilles, Director of the Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal Campaign, is seeing the success and seems buoyed by it.
The public is rising up, demanding cleaner energy, and developers and investors are taking note. There is a shift going on across America as companies realign away from old dirty practices involving coal and toward cleaner energy options, including wind, solar and becoming more efficient.
As much as a serious agreement at COP15 was desired, the truth is what matters is the facts on the ground. Due to efforts of people like Bruce, the facts are increasingly pointing to keeping coal in the ground and favoring the deployment of other electricity options.