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  1. #1
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    The Sierra Club has no shame...

    We're winning the war against coal

    Updated 5:00 PM ET, Tue November 3, 2015

    [http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnnnext/dam...e-gallery.jpg]
    Obama to unveil major climate change proposal 01:54

    Former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg is the U.N. secretary general's special envoy for climate change and cities and Michael Brune is executive director of the Sierra Club. The opinions expressed in this commentary are theirs.

    (CNN)Here's some good news that many Americans may not realize: Domestically, we are winning the fight against the carbon pollution that drives climate change. And by doing so, we are giving President Obama a strong hand to play when world leaders gather at the U.N.'s climate summit in Paris in five weeks to negotiate a global agreement to limit carbon emissions.

    To understand how the White House finds itself in this position of strength, think back to 2010, when Congress failed to pass a cap-and-trade bill. That seemed to end any hopes of making major reductions in emissions and demonstrating American resolve to the global community. But in fact, even though the bill did not become law, the United States has already exceeded the carbon reduction goals it aimed to reach.

    According to a study being released Wednesday by the Sierra Club and Bloomberg Philanthropies, 2015 U.S. economy-wide carbon emissions are even lower than they would have been had the bill passed. In fact, the United States can now say it has led the world in reducing carbon pollution over the last decade.

    A primary driver is that over the past five years 130 coal-fired power plants have been retired and another 70 are preparing to retire over the next few years. Yes, cleaner energy sources have played an important role in reducing emissions. So did the Obama administration's tougher fuel efficiency standards for cars and trucks. But the biggest factor, as the new data shows, was the decline in coal use.

    How did it happen? Market forces have been moving against the coal industry for some time, due to wind and solar becoming competitive, the industry cutting wasteful demand and the natural gas boom. But the decline in coal use also stems in large measure from citizens demanding cleaner air and action on climate change. People across the country joined with the Sierra Club and many other organizations in standing up for their right to breathe clean air. Five years ago, coal pollution helped kill 13,000 Americans a year. Now, that number is down to 7,500.

    The progress we have made on phasing out coal will greatly improve the prospects of a global agreement. In the past, political resistance in the United States to climate change legislation hampered our ability to persuade the rest of the world to take action. Countries could say to U.S. negotiators: "You are the wealthiest country in the world. You take action, and then we'll consider it." But in Paris, U.S. negotiators will be able to assert: "We are leading the world in carbon reduction. But we need all countries to be a part of the solution."

    Moreover, the phase-out of coal in the United States has only just begun. Our analysis of the new data shows that once all planned and targeted coal plant closings are factored in, the United States will exceed the Obama administration's flagship pledge to cut electric sector carbon emissions -- even if no other actions are taken -- 32% by 2030. In other words, even if Congress does nothing else for the next decade, the work we've all already completed will allow the United States to deliver on its commitments, ensuring we can lead the way on significant international climate action in Paris and beyond.

    That's not to say, of course, that the Obama administration's Clean Power Plan, which sets emission caps for states, isn't important. It is. We'll likely need to significantly exceed the administration's emissions pledge if we're going to avoid the worst impacts of climate change. Other countries will need to exceed their pledges as well -- and the United States can set the pace by continuing to showcase a speedy coal phase-out.

    The lawsuits filed last week to stop the Clean Power Plan are not likely to succeed or slow the decline of coal, given its unpopularity and market trends. Nor should other countries mistake these lawsuits for lack of American resolve and use them as an excuse to weaken their own commitments. There will always be U.S. elected officials who seek to protect special interests, but they are fighting an irreversible trend, and they should be focused on helping workers from the coal industry find new opportunities.

    Cities, states and businesses will continue moving away from coal and investing in clean energy, because it helps both to protect public health and create jobs, by attracting capital and talent. It can also help homeowners and businesses save money. To name just one example, in New Mexico, keeping the San Juan coal plant open would cost families $90 million more per year than replacing the plant with cleaner power.

    That's why even as coal use and carbon emissions have shrunk, the U.S. economy has grown at a rate outpacing most of the industrialized world. Jobs in clean power have boomed, and today there are two people working in the solar industry for every one employed by the coal industry.
    America is moving beyond coal -- and we have helped position the White House to begin leading the rest of the world in the same direction.
    This has to be one of the greatest jokes to ever be written about combating climate change.

    The Sierra Club is now taking credit for the reductions in CO2 when they fought the very "clean energy source" that is responsible for it...Natural Gas.

    Natural gas gets a whole 3 word mention on the reduction of CO2 yet it is by an overwhelming margin the energy source that is responsible.

    The Sierra Club, along with Obama, tried to pass cap and trade in 2009 and it did pass the house before being stalled in the senate. To highlight the bills stupidity in its quest to supposedly combat global warming:

    Would have taxed NG usage at 22%, Oil at 33%, and Coal at 44%. Ethanol was declared to be a favored fuel and would receive additional subsidies and tax benefits. . This was at the height of the recession where the economic impact on the US economy could have been devastating.

    Nuclear Power was never mentioned in the bill whatsoever...very strange for an energy source that produces no CO2 but accounts for almost 20% of the electricity produced in the US.

    Because of the enormous discoveries of NG and its cheap cost the utility companies and major manufacturers were converting to NG. And it produced 1/2 the CO2 of coal and gave the US manufacturers a competitive advantage over the rest of the world due to its low energy costs. NG not only helped drive the US economy but was the primary reason that CO2 was dramatically reduced in the US IN SPITE OF OBAMA AND THE SIERRA CLUB.

    But guess who fought NG at almost every turn...? The good old "stop global warming unless it means using NG " Sierra Club. Even Obama, as much as it pained him to do so, started to recognize in 2011 that NG production was helping the economy and driving down CO2. But not the Sierra Club. They have fought "fracking" and horizontal drilling and often described NG as an "unclean" energy source but now they want to take credit for the reduction in CO2 as though it was a testimony to "their efforts", when, in fact, quite the opposite is true.

    And the increase in the heavily subsidized solar and wind energy industry has been just a pimple on the big *** of US energy consumption. But to read this article you would think that it is the driving force in the reduction of CO2.

    And to these idiots comments that the US citizens are demanding cleaner energy sources to fight global warming:

    AP Poll: Americans Not Worried About Global Warming

    Tuesday, 03 Nov 2015 11:35 AM

    Americans are hot but not too bothered by global warming.

    Most Americans know the climate is changing, but they say they are just not that worried about it, according to a new poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. And that is keeping the American public from demanding and getting the changes that are necessary to prevent global warming from reaching a crisis, according to climate and social scientists.

    Read Latest Breaking News from Newsmax.com http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/cli...#ixzz3qXhjY56B

    I love the comment on the "work that we've completed" being responsible for future CO2 reduction. The US energy industry gets the credit for that with finding a 200 year supply of NG at affordable prices... not the people that have virulently opposed it. Without NG there would be very little to show for CO2 reduction in the US. The Sierra Club knows this but doesn't have the integrity to even acknowledge it.

  2. #2
    Sooner All-Big XII-2-1+1-1+1 Tear Down This Wall's Avatar
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    Re: The Sierra Club has no shame...

    May as well be titled: "We're winning the war against jobs."
    "General Secretary Gorbachev, if you seek peace, if you seek prosperity for the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, if you seek liberalization: Come here to this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!"
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  3. #3
    SoonerFans.com Elite Member FaninAma's Avatar
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    Re: The Sierra Club has no shame...

    "We're winning the war against reasonable utility bills for the poor."

    Bloomberg is the poster boy for the East Coast elitist liberal establishment.
    Beware the man who would rule you for your own good. He will never cease. He will regulate every aspect of your life, destroy your liberty and enslave you, and sleep well convinced that he has made the world a better place.

  4. #4
    Sooner All-Big XII-2-1+1-1+1 Ton Loc's Avatar
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    Re: The Sierra Club has no shame...

    I despise the Sierra Club. They're shady ****ty liars who really don't care about their "cause" as much as they care about money and attention.
    It takes one to know one, and I know you don't know a damn thing.

  5. #5
    Sooner All-Big XII-2-1+1-1+1 Tear Down This Wall's Avatar
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    Re: The Sierra Club has no shame...

    Quote Originally Posted by FaninAma View Post
    "We're winning the war against reasonable utility bills for the poor."

    Bloomberg is the poster boy for the East Coast elitist liberal establishment.
    That's true as well. But...of course, with a heavy dose of subsidization, anything looks successful.
    "General Secretary Gorbachev, if you seek peace, if you seek prosperity for the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, if you seek liberalization: Come here to this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!"
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  6. #6
    Sooner All-Big XII-2-1+1-1+1
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    Re: The Sierra Club has no shame...

    Quote Originally Posted by Tear Down This Wall View Post
    May as well be titled: "We're winning the war against jobs."
    Can you explain that a little? I'm not a cap/trade guy. But, how does migrating to NG cost jobs?

  7. #7

    Re: The Sierra Club has no shame...

    Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia was on MSNBC this morning and endorsed Hillary. The destruction of the coal industry will continue unabated, and this idiot is going along with it. He's been very outspoken against Obama when Obama was making good on the promise to "put the coal industry out of business" so he goes out and endorses Hillary who will continue Obama's policies. If the people of West Virginia re-elect this clown for another term, then that's exactly what they deserve. Nice to see that ole Joe's party is more important to him than his constituents.
    Unbelievable.
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  8. #8
    Sooner All-Big XII-2-1+1-1+1
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    Re: The Sierra Club has no shame...

    Quote Originally Posted by Serenity Now View Post
    Can you explain that a little? I'm not a cap/trade guy. But, how does migrating to NG cost jobs?
    My guess would be that underground mining is very labor-intensive, so going from underground mining to NG drilling would cut jobs. But aren't they doing mostly surface and mountaintop-removal mining now? I would think those industries would be roughly equivalent in terms of jobs.
    Ukraine: Not Our Fight.

    More epicycles!

  9. #9
    Sooner All-World olevetonahill's Avatar
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    Re: The Sierra Club has no shame...

    Quote Originally Posted by Serenity Now View Post
    Can you explain that a little? I'm not a cap/trade guy. But, how does migrating to NG cost jobs?
    Pretty simple, If Coal mines are shut down , Miners be laid off,! Plus all the service personnel that help keep the Mines working.
    I detest the Coal mine that is going thru my area right now tearing up the country side and the roads, But it has helped the economy here.
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  10. #10
    Sooner All-Big XII-2-1+1-1+1
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    Re: The Sierra Club has no shame...

    Quote Originally Posted by olevetonahill View Post
    Pretty simple, If Coal mines are shut down , Miners be laid off,! Plus all the service personnel that help keep the Mines working.
    I detest the Coal mine that is going thru my area right now tearing up the country side and the roads, But it has helped the economy here.
    Yeah, but, if natural gas drilling is expanding, that is creating new jobs. Elimination of obsolete jobs and creation of new ones is how capitalism is supposed to work. The trouble comes when more jobs are lost than are created. Not to mention the minor deal of people living in (Almost) Heaven not wanting to move to North Dakota, or its non-frozen-over cousin, texas.
    Ukraine: Not Our Fight.

    More epicycles!

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