GQP At COP: GHG Emissions And Fossil Fuels "Not The Same Thing"; Also "Technology!!!"(TM)
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Scientists worldwide are in agreement that heat-trapping gases such as those released from the combustion of coal, oil, and gas are pushing up global temperatures, causing sea-level rise, extreme weather, and species extinction. Yet Representative John Curtis, R-Utah, said it would be wrong to demonize fossil fuels. “I think we need to decide as a world: Do we hate greenhouse gas emissions or do we hate fossil fuels,” said Curtis, who is known for founding the Conservative Climate Caucus. “It’s not the same thing.”
Taking the ball down the field a step further, Representative Garret Graves, R-La., suggested fossil fuels can be a form of clean energy – if only the carbon released by extracting and burning them could be captured and stored safely, reports CTV News Canada. “One of the things we ought to be doing is not attacking oil and gas, it’s to be attacking the emissions associated with it, to where it can be indistinguishable from other renewable energy technologies,” he told an audience in the U.S. pavilion at the climate talks in Sharm el-Sheikh.
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One solution promoted by the industry is the idea of carbon capture, to prevent emissions from reaching the atmosphere and storing the gas underground. There is also “direct air capture,” which would be able to remove emissions once they are in the air. The problem with these technologies is their cost. No one has yet to demonstrate a cost-effective way of doing either at scale, said Andrew Dessler, a professor of atmospheric sciences at Texas A&M University. “Renewables are presently the cheapest energy — even without carbon capture on fossil fuels — so adding carbon capture is never going to be the economically superior solution,” he said.
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Crenshaw, the lawmaker from Texas, accused “radical environmentalists” of exaggerating the threat posed by climate change and misstating the science. “Let’s not lie to our children and scare them to death, then tell them they’re going to burn alive because of this,” he said. Donald Wuebbles, a University of Illinois professor of atmospheric sciences, argued that “Nobody’s out there saying children are going to burn to death. What we are saying is this is an extremely serious problem, perhaps the most serious problem humanity has ever faced and we need to deal with it.”
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https://www.digitaljournal.com/world/cop27-gop-delegation-expounds-on-benefits-of-fossil-fuels/article#ixzz7kX9HGzgS
= new reply since forum marked as read
That's as expensive, technologically challenging and as "just around the corner" viable as nuclear fusion power generation. Plus, it's a huge resource hog in terms of electricity and water.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/oct/15/emissions-capture-carbon-cost-water-electricity
Funny thing is, this is coming from the same people who fought coal fired stack scrubbers tooth and nail. I mean, what's a little sulfur dioxide and mercury dumped into our environment? 