Not So Fast: EPA Chief’s Coal Comments Unhinged from Reality

Via the Institute for 21st Century Energy:

By: Dan Byers

As we have repeatedly warned, an “air of unreality” is permeating the COP 21 climate talks.  Any agreements reached later this week will have little or no impact on what actually happens in the real world. On Thursday, EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy joined the party with some unreal comments of her own about the use of coal. While in Paris lobbying for a deal with numerous other Obama Administration cabinet officials, McCarthy stated in an online Q&A session that [emphasis added]: “We know now, however, as China does, that it’s [coal] not necessarily the path to the future,” McCarthy said from Paris, where she’s taking part in the United Nations climate conference. “We know in the U.S. that we are transitioning away from coal because coal is no longer marketable. We have cleaner natural gas, and we have opportunities for low-carbon sources like renewables and using energy efficiency to lower energy demand.” …McCarthy, though, noted that other countries like China are also looking to cut [back] on their coal use as part of a proposed global pact on climate change, which officials in Paris are working to finalize this week. McCarthy would do well to have a chat with her counterpart, Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz (also in Paris lobbying for a deal). His Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) is forecasting that coal as a percentage of overall domestic energy consumption will remain flat between now and 2040.

See the full article here.