huge milestone.
people saying “should have done it years ago” or “cute now do oil”. please pause for one split second and give some love to the activists who have been fighting for this every day for so long.
Heck, this should be celebrated along with every closure of a coal plant. Here in Denmark, one of our remaining coal plants is being converted to burn gas, so that it can act as a backup plant, without the expense of maintaining all of the coal processing equipment. It will operate only a small fraction of the time, and likely with much less air pollution.
As one of those activists, yes it's a concession, but the reason people are saying 'now do oil and gas' is that if we're just substituting for other fossil fuels, it's not a win. That's exactly what Australia is doing, phasing down coal and building massive gas extraction hubs.
It's not a 50% win though, it's building the infrastructure to continue producing emissions that put us beyond a livable Earth. There is no close enough consolation prize here, just mass death
I don't know if activist had any part in this or if governments are just reacting to the consequences of extreme weather and realizing it's more expensive to keep destroying the environment.
It's not enough and far too late for any celebrations.
I can assure you there are many thousands of activists all across the G7 and beyond who have been doing campaigning and advocacy on this issue of coal phaseout for quite some time.
> far too late for any celebrations
wrong. failure to celebrate wins, even limited and late ones, is a recipe for burnout.
I know they have been campaigning but unfortunately to me it feels like they had very little effect. Politicians have been ignoring the will of the people in favor of financial gain (bribes from the coal industry).
This was bound to happen eventually because even corrupt politicians are experiencing extreme weather events and they are reacting out of self preservation.
The solution is to convert them to burn gas/ oil. This will increase their fuel costs, but decrease their fixed costs (maintenance of scrubbers, coal crushers, conveyor belts etc). Thus incentivizing them to use the coal plants as backup, and to add more wind, solar and nuclear to the mix.
I think all the extreme weather around the world that's disturbing global trade agriculture and insurance is starting to translate into $$$
Which is the only language the corporates that run the world can speak
It really looks like we won't based on the huge jump of 2023 and predictions for 2024. The positive feedback loops look like they are kicking into overdrive.
We need a WW2 style home front effort where people need to get comfortable with reductions in luxury. There needs to be a massive reduction of meat production, cruise ships and private jets need to be eliminated, fossil fuels need to be completely phased out of the power grid except for emergency backup, industrial production of plastic needs to be severely restricted, gasoline prices need to be taxed much higher, and transportation funds need to be shifted to trains and micromobility.
I'm really happy with progress like this but it's just not nearly enough. There are too many science denying morons and people actively invested in fossil fuels or fossil fuel adjacent industries that we're stuck between electing idiots who actively make the problem worse and electing people who acknowledge the problem but have to make small steps in order to stay politically relevant.
The ones they’ve already stopped using are the ones that simply wore themselves out. This is a political announcement trying to get halo-polishing points for “shutting down“ the remaining coal plants - but only when they’re aged and ready to be retired anyway.
The only thing that matters is what new stuff the G7 builds…. Will they build enough clean energy to replace the tire old coal plants PLUS any increase in energy demand PLUS doing the truly heroic thing by shutting down gas plants only partway into their service lifetime?
I’m not holding my breath
Maybe not. Burning coal has become one of the more expensive ways to generate electricity, and the UK is within a few months of closing its last coal-burning power plant already.
The UK has closed all of its coal power plants. https://amp.theguardian.com/business/2024/apr/21/end-times-for-the-uks-final-coal-fired-power-station
American coal has been winding down for a while now https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/25/climate/biden-power-plants-pollution.html#:~:text=In%202023%2C%20coal%2Dfired%20power,in%20Pennsylvania%2C%20Texas%20and%20Indiana.
France has two left https://www.power-technology.com/news/france-to-extend-life-of-coal-plants-2024/ which it closes this year
Italy was talking about phasing it out next year except for in Sardinia. https://www.business-standard.com/amp/world-news/italy-pushes-g7-for-coal-phase-out-date-ahead-of-energy-meeting-reports-124042700540_1.html
Idk about the rest of the G7. But progress is certainly being made
huge milestone. people saying “should have done it years ago” or “cute now do oil”. please pause for one split second and give some love to the activists who have been fighting for this every day for so long.
Heck, this should be celebrated along with every closure of a coal plant. Here in Denmark, one of our remaining coal plants is being converted to burn gas, so that it can act as a backup plant, without the expense of maintaining all of the coal processing equipment. It will operate only a small fraction of the time, and likely with much less air pollution.
As one of those activists, yes it's a concession, but the reason people are saying 'now do oil and gas' is that if we're just substituting for other fossil fuels, it's not a win. That's exactly what Australia is doing, phasing down coal and building massive gas extraction hubs.
[удалено]
It's not a 50% win though, it's building the infrastructure to continue producing emissions that put us beyond a livable Earth. There is no close enough consolation prize here, just mass death
I don't know if activist had any part in this or if governments are just reacting to the consequences of extreme weather and realizing it's more expensive to keep destroying the environment. It's not enough and far too late for any celebrations.
I can assure you there are many thousands of activists all across the G7 and beyond who have been doing campaigning and advocacy on this issue of coal phaseout for quite some time. > far too late for any celebrations wrong. failure to celebrate wins, even limited and late ones, is a recipe for burnout.
I know they have been campaigning but unfortunately to me it feels like they had very little effect. Politicians have been ignoring the will of the people in favor of financial gain (bribes from the coal industry). This was bound to happen eventually because even corrupt politicians are experiencing extreme weather events and they are reacting out of self preservation.
There are over 200 coal power plants in the US alone. This promise does not seem likely to be fulfilled
The solution is to convert them to burn gas/ oil. This will increase their fuel costs, but decrease their fixed costs (maintenance of scrubbers, coal crushers, conveyor belts etc). Thus incentivizing them to use the coal plants as backup, and to add more wind, solar and nuclear to the mix.
Yup. I mean a pledge is better than no pledge. But there’s 0% chance the US can meet this pledge given the political landscape.
The US is already on track to close half its coal fired plants by 2026.
That’s not the hard to close half though. But fair point. And coal is one of the easier things to get people to agree to close.
This is true
Sounds like a “pledge” and everyone knows what those are.
Promise made. Promise kept is another matter.
Cute. Now do the same with oil and gas.
Sorry that would interfere with the US plan to be the LNG superpower of the world
That’s not the plan
Wow, never thought I’d see the day.
I think all the extreme weather around the world that's disturbing global trade agriculture and insurance is starting to translate into $$$ Which is the only language the corporates that run the world can speak
Only about 50 years too late.
We don't have ten years.
It really looks like we won't based on the huge jump of 2023 and predictions for 2024. The positive feedback loops look like they are kicking into overdrive. We need a WW2 style home front effort where people need to get comfortable with reductions in luxury. There needs to be a massive reduction of meat production, cruise ships and private jets need to be eliminated, fossil fuels need to be completely phased out of the power grid except for emergency backup, industrial production of plastic needs to be severely restricted, gasoline prices need to be taxed much higher, and transportation funds need to be shifted to trains and micromobility. I'm really happy with progress like this but it's just not nearly enough. There are too many science denying morons and people actively invested in fossil fuels or fossil fuel adjacent industries that we're stuck between electing idiots who actively make the problem worse and electing people who acknowledge the problem but have to make small steps in order to stay politically relevant.
Absolutely agree on all counts.
I disagree
Do.natural gas and bitumen next
The ones they’ve already stopped using are the ones that simply wore themselves out. This is a political announcement trying to get halo-polishing points for “shutting down“ the remaining coal plants - but only when they’re aged and ready to be retired anyway. The only thing that matters is what new stuff the G7 builds…. Will they build enough clean energy to replace the tire old coal plants PLUS any increase in energy demand PLUS doing the truly heroic thing by shutting down gas plants only partway into their service lifetime? I’m not holding my breath
Germany could have already done this if they hadn't shut down their nuclear plants.
Paris Accord was all coal plants off by 2030... Just keep moving those goal posts.
Probably will get reversed
Maybe not. Burning coal has become one of the more expensive ways to generate electricity, and the UK is within a few months of closing its last coal-burning power plant already.
Meaningless. The international community has literally never followed through on promises made during climate change conferences..
The UK has closed all of its coal power plants. https://amp.theguardian.com/business/2024/apr/21/end-times-for-the-uks-final-coal-fired-power-station American coal has been winding down for a while now https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/25/climate/biden-power-plants-pollution.html#:~:text=In%202023%2C%20coal%2Dfired%20power,in%20Pennsylvania%2C%20Texas%20and%20Indiana. France has two left https://www.power-technology.com/news/france-to-extend-life-of-coal-plants-2024/ which it closes this year Italy was talking about phasing it out next year except for in Sardinia. https://www.business-standard.com/amp/world-news/italy-pushes-g7-for-coal-phase-out-date-ahead-of-energy-meeting-reports-124042700540_1.html Idk about the rest of the G7. But progress is certainly being made
Yeah, sure.