Efforts To Knock Out Carbon Are Also Causing Coal Country To Stagger

http://livenewstop.blogspot.com/-It’s the one-two punch that may knock-out the global carbon threat. But it is also the same duo that has staggered coal country here in the United States. Indeed, the Obama administration’s Clean Power Plan in combination with the COP21 accord have accelerated the fundamental shift taking place in energy economics.

The aim of both initiatives — one a U.S. regulatory undertaking and the other a non-binding global climate treaty — is to curb the level of carbon emissions and in doing so, build upon the New Energy Economy that relies on low-carbon fuels. Large industrials are dubious, believing that their cost of doing business will rise and hurt their global competitiveness. Other businesses, though, are getting on board, saying that it pays to be clean.

Consider Siemens AG, which is striving to be the world’s first industrial company to achieve a net-zero carbon footprint by 2030: The German-based energy conglomerate wants to cut its carbon emissions in half by 2020, to around 1.1 million metric tons a year. To get there, it will invest tens of millions of dollars.

“The Paris Agreement marks an historic turning point. The world is clearly moving towards decarbonization. Siemens can and will lead this transition to a low-carbon economy – both with our environmental portfolio and our CO2-neutral program,” says Roland Busch, managing board member, through a spokesperson.

SHANXI, CHINA -NOVEMBER 26: (CHINA, HONG KONG, MACAU, TAIWAN OUT) A history of heavy dependence on burning coal for energy has made China the source of nearly a third of the world’s total carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. China’s government has publicly set 2030 as a deadline to reach the country’s emissions peak, and data suggest the country’s coal consumption is already in decline. The governments of more than 190 countries are expected to sign an agreement in Paris to set targets on reducing carbon emissions in an attempt to forge a new global agreement on climate change. (Photo by Kevin Frayer/Getty Images)

But this kind of pursuit is not without its critics — and its victims. A central concern is that the whole world must participate for COP21 to do any good. Unless it is a collective undertaking, it would economically tie the hands of those that actually carry out their promises. The accord wants to keep temperature rises to no more than 2 degrees Celsius by the end of this century, or 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit.

As for the United States, it is on board, having finalized the Clean Power Plan in August that plans to cut carbon emissions by 32 percent by 2030 mostly by using cleaner fuels and shutting down older coal plants. But the Republican-led U.S. Congress has vowed to stop those efforts, arguing that the developing countries won’t fully take part for at least 15 years, which hurts the American manufacturing sector and U.S. coal producers.

“If the U.S. tries to commit itself to all these draconian things, it won’t make any difference on the global stage,” says Robert Murray, chief executive of Murray Energy, a coal producer.

But it will make a difference locally, he adds, pointing specifically to the major coal-producing states. According to the Wall Street Journal, 27 coal mining companies with their core operations in Central Appalachia have filed for bankruptcy since 2012. That includes Alpha Natural Resources ANR +%, James River Coal and Patriot Coal. The downturn has resulted in more than 9,700 lost jobs since 2009, it adds. West Virginia, for example, employed more than 100,000 coal miners in the 1950s. Today, that number is less than 20,000.

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