Obama Says the World's Move Toward Renewables Is "Irreversible"

[OKIsItJustMe]

https://www.technologyreview.com/s/603331/obama-says-the-worlds-move-toward-renewables-is-irreversible/

[font face=Serif][font size=5]Obama Says the World’s Move Toward Renewables Is “Irreversible”[/font]

[font size=4]Changing economic realities mean that America is already reducing its emissions, but the president says more action is needed to accelerate the process.[/font]

by Michael Reilly | January 9, 2017

[font size=3]The renewable energy revolution is already under way, and there’s nothing you can do to stop it.

That’s the point President Barack Obama sought to make in a piece published today in Science in which he outlined, as he put it, “the four reasons I believe the trend toward clean energy is irreversible.”

He started off with a biggie. It’s long been received wisdom that economic growth is associated with increased energy usage—which means more greenhouse gas emissions. That’s been true for decades—but since 2008 there has been a dramatic shift in how America gets its energy. As a result, Obama says, the economy grew more than 10 percent from 2008 to 2015 while CO₂ emissions fell. This is something we have also observed, and Obama’s assertion that the trend has gone global checks out, too.



In the U.S., most of that is attributable to a large-scale shift away from coal and toward natural gas, whose renaissance is driving coal-fired power plants out of business.

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[PoliticAverse]

1. It's reversible when something cheaper that isn't renewable is found. n/t

[OKIsItJustMe]

2. Which would be?

As the supply of non-renewable sources of energy (e.g. fossil fuels) dwindles, they become more expensive.

As renewable energy sources grow, they become less expensive.