<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(32, 33, 36); -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(32, 33, 36); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class=""><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;" class="">Salon December 13, 2019</span></div><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(32, 33, 36); -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(32, 33, 36); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); min-height: 17px;" class=""><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;" class=""></span><br class=""></div><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin: 0px 0px 4.8px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" class=""><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class=""><b class="">Natural gas surpasses coal in carbon emissions</b></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin: 0px 0px 10.9px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" class=""><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class="">Better than coal, but not by much: efforts to market natural gas as "green" may be part of the problem</span></p><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class=""><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;" class="">==—————————————————————————————————</span></div><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class=""><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;" class="">But as Michael Mann, a distinguished professor of Atmospheric Science and Meteorology, told Salon via email: "The solution to a problem created by fossil fuels cannot be a fossil fuel."</span></div><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class=""><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;" class="">==———————————————————————————————————————</span></div><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class=""><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;" class=""><br class=""></span></div><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 238);" class=""><span style="text-decoration: underline; -webkit-font-kerning: none;" class=""><a href="https://www.salon.com/2019/12/13/natural-gas-surpasses-coal-in-carbon-emissions/" class="">https://www.salon.com/2019/12/13/natural-gas-surpasses-coal-in-carbon-emissions/</a></span></div><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(167, 169, 171); -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(167, 169, 171); min-height: 11px;" class=""><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;" class=""><b class=""></b></span><br class=""></div><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class=""><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;" class=""><b class="">Excerpt, opening paragraphs only</b></span></div><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class=""><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; -webkit-font-kerning: none;" class=""><br class=""></span></div><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class=""><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; -webkit-font-kerning: none;" class="">Recent estimates produced by the <a href="https://www.globalcarbonproject.org/index.htm" class=""><span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; -webkit-font-kerning: none; color: rgb(238, 44, 29); -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(238, 44, 29);" class="">Global Carbon Project</span></a>, an academic consortium, detailed an unexpected story regarding carbon dioxide emissions in the United States: carbon emissions from coal, the dirtiest fossil fuel, are on a steady decline, </span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; -webkit-font-kerning: none; background-color: rgb(255, 251, 0);" class="">and carbon emissions from natural gas now surpass coal. </span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; -webkit-font-kerning: none;" class="">The new data adds fuel to a heated debate about the role of supposedly-clean natural gas.</span></div><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); min-height: 15px;" class=""><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;" class=""></span><br class=""></div><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(34, 34, 34);" class=""><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class="">According to the data, carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in the U.S. from natural gas are projected to increase by 3.5 percent from 2018 to 2019. For comparison, carbon dioxide emissions from coal were down by 10.5 percent. Oil is still the top emitter in the United States.</span></div><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin: 0px; text-align: center; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); min-height: 15px;" class=""><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;" class=""></span><br class=""></div><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class=""><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;" class="">“Coal use dropped another ten percent this year and is down by half since 2005. Cheaper natural gas and solar power are gaining market share,” Rob Jackson, a professor of Earth system science in Stanford’s <a href="https://earth.stanford.edu/" class=""><span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; -webkit-font-kerning: none; color: rgb(238, 44, 29); -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(238, 44, 29);" class="">School of Earth, Energy & Environmental Sciences</span></a>, who contributed to the report, explained to Salon via email. “But more than half of our natural gas goes to industry and homes for heating and more, not for electricity.”</span></div><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); min-height: 15px;" class=""><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;" class=""></span><br class=""></div><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(34, 34, 34);" class=""><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; background-color: rgb(255, 251, 0);" class="">“These uses are growing rapidly, increasing fossil fuel emissions, not decreasing them,” he added.</span><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class="">Overall, global carbon emissions are expected to reach 37 billion metric tons this year, another record high, meaning carbon dioxide pollution is higher than it has ever been in Earth's recent history. If the world is to meet the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement, emissions would drop sharply.</span></div><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin: 0px; text-align: center; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); min-height: 15px;" class=""><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;" class=""></span><br class=""></div><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(144, 144, 144); -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(144, 144, 144); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); min-height: 13px;" class=""><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;" class=""></span><br class=""></div><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class=""><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;" class="">While the rate of growth of carbon emissions has slowed, carbon emissions continue to increase. Natural gas consumption is a contributor to that increase, experts say — though granted, the increase would likely be even greater had much coal consumption not been supplanted by natural gas. The U.S. is <a href="https://www.agriculture.com/news/business/the-us-becomes-the-worlds-largest-oil-and-natural-gas-producer" class=""><span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; -webkit-font-kerning: none; color: rgb(238, 44, 29); -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(238, 44, 29);" class="">currently</span></a> the largest oil and natural gas producer in the world, and energy companies are actively investing in natural gas. </span></div><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); min-height: 15px;" class=""><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;" class=""></span><br class=""></div><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class=""><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;" class="">In a 2018 BP report, the company stated its commitment to finding and producing natural gas as the market expands. “BP is active in finding and producing gas, as well as its transport, storage and sale,” the report <a href="https://www.bp.com/content/dam/bp/business-sites/en/global/corporate/pdfs/sustainability/group-reports/bp-advancing-the-energy-transition.pdf" class=""><span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; -webkit-font-kerning: none; color: rgb(238, 44, 29); -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(238, 44, 29);" class="">states</span></a>. “This puts us in a good position </span><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; background-color: rgb(255, 251, 0);" class="">as the gas market grows </span><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;" class="">and becomes increasingly competitive.”</span></div><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); min-height: 15px;" class=""><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;" class=""></span><br class=""></div><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class=""><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;" class="">But as Michael Mann, a distinguished professor of Atmospheric Science and Meteorology, told Salon via email: "The solution to a problem created by fossil fuels cannot be a fossil fuel."</span></div><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); min-height: 15px;" class=""><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;" class=""></span><br class=""></div><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class=""><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;" class="">Natural gas combustion emits carbon dioxide, albeit natural gas emits 50 to 60 percent less carbon dioxide than oil and coal. The drilling and extraction of natural gas, along with its transportation in pipelines, can cause methane leaks, methane being a stronger greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide.</span></div><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); min-height: 15px;" class=""><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;" class=""></span><br class=""></div><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class=""><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;" class="">BP claims to be taking measures to reduce methane emissions in its scheduled natural gas projects, but as an <a href="http://priceofoil.org/content/uploads/2019/05/gasBridgeMyth_web-FINAL.pdf" class=""><span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; -webkit-font-kerning: none; color: rgb(238, 44, 29); -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(238, 44, 29);" class="">analysis by Oil Change International</span></a> explained: “There is no room for new fossil fuel development – gas included – within the Paris agreement goals.” The <a href="https://www.unenvironment.org/resources/emissions-gap-report-2019" class=""><span style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; -webkit-font-kerning: none; color: rgb(238, 44, 29); -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(238, 44, 29);" class="">10th Emissions Gap Report</span></a> by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), released in November, stated that "countries collectively failed to stop the growth in global [greenhouse gas] emissions, meaning that deeper and faster cuts are now required."</span></div><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); min-height: 15px;" class=""><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;" class=""></span><br class=""></div><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" class=""><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;" class="">End of excerpt</span></div><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(34, 34, 34);" class=""><span style="text-decoration: underline; -webkit-font-kerning: none;" class=""><a href="https://www.salon.com/2019/12/13/natural-gas-surpasses-coal-in-carbon-emissions/" class="">https://www.salon.com/2019/12/13/natural-gas-surpasses-coal-in-carbon-emissions/<span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none; font-size: 12px;" class=""></span></a></span></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">
<div dir="auto" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Verdana; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;">++++ ________________________________________________________++++<br class=""> <br class="">“Research suggests that the scale of human population and the current pace of its growth contribute substantially to the loss of biological diversity. Although technological change and unequal consumption inextricably mingle with demographic impacts on the environment, the needs of all human beings—especially for food—imply that projected population growth will undermine protection of the natural world. <br class=""><br class="">"Numerous solutions have been proposed to boost food production while protecting biodiversity, but alone these proposals are unlikely to staunch biodiversity loss. An important approach to sustaining biodiversity and human well-being is through actions that can slow and eventually reverse population growth: investing in universal access to reproductive health services and contraceptive technologies, advancing women’s education, and achieving gender equality.”<br class=""> <br class="">Eileen Crist, Camilo Mora, Robert Engelman. The interaction of human population, food production, and biodiversity protection. Science 21 April 2017</div></div></div></div>
</div>
<br class=""></body></html>