Making Sense of Gas vs. Coal and Climate: A Look at the Recent Paper by Tom Wigley
September 14th, 2011 by David McCabe, Atmospheric Scientist
The last few months have seen a flurry of academic papers investigating whether using natural gas for power generation creates more global warming than using coal for power generation. A few have reached the startling conclusion that using gas for power is just as bad, or worse, than coal. The most recent of these is by Tom Wigley, a global leader in climate science, and therefore bears special examination. As we’ll argue below, natural gas is no climate panacea, especially over the time scales that Wigley examines. We need zero-carbon energy. But it is also important to consider how we get to that future, and natural gas – coupled with carbon capture and storage and tight controls on methane leaks – will likely have a big role to play there in the next few decades. It is critical that we accurately account for the climate impacts of gas, and we don’t agree with Wigley’s approach in two key areas.
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Message to the EPA Administrator: Power Plant MACT Rules Must Meet Best In Breed Standard
March 7th, 2011 by Ann Weeks, Senior Counsel and Legal Director
Dear Ms. Jackson:
EPA’s recent industrial boiler air toxics regulations – even compared with the draft rules proposed last Spring – disappointed on several significant fronts. As we at Clean Air Task Force see it, EPA’s “Boiler MACT” rule:
- Weakened emission limits by transparently fiddling with and adding new boiler sub-categories;
- Manipulated emission floors so they clearly do not reflect the best performers; and
- Lets many boiler owner/operators off the hook from meeting technology- based standards for the carcinogenic pollutants they emit, and instead simply requires boiler “tune-ups.”
