The U.S. Energy Administration confirms a development that first got teased back in April—natural gas is now responsible for more carbon emissions that coal.
Marie Cusick reports: "Carbon dioxide emissions from natural gas are expected to exceed those from coal for the first time in more than 40 years, according to data released Wednesday from the U.S. Energy Information Administration."
"The EIA projects energy-related carbon emissions from natural gas will be 10 percent higher than those from coal this year," to be exact.
The report shares the latest in a series of developments in the pollution paradigm. In June 2016 the news was that transportation had passed energy as the largest source of carbon emissions in the U.S. economy. The possibility of natural gas emissions surpassing coal emissions first broke in April, provoking concern about methane emissions.
Another key point made by Cusick regarding natural gas use: "Although natural gas is much less carbon-intensive than coal, Americans are using a lot more of it."
FULL STORY: Carbon emissions from natural gas expected to surpass coal
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