NYT: Study Questions Prospects for Much Lower Emissions

[Doondoo]

As Democratic leaders in Congress prepare to put climate change legislation on the agenda, some in the utility industry are arguing that it will take decades of investments and innovation to get substantial reductions in their emissions of greenhouse gases.

Electric power companies, which emit about one-third of America’s global warming gases, could reduce their emissions to below the levels of 1990, but that would take about 20 years, no matter how much the utilities spend, according to a new industry study.

The report, prepared by the Electric Power Research Institute, a nonprofit consortium, is portrayed as highly optimistic by its authors, who will present the findings on Thursday at an energy conference in Houston.

It assumes that “money grows on trees and all research is successful,” said one of them, Bryan J. Hannegan. “This is as good as we think we can get, right now.”



http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/15/business/15carbon.html

[Nay]

1. Of COURSE it will take decades, cuz power companies have stonewalled

for 35 years, pooh-poohing concerns of environmentalists and calling them "wackos." They have wasted 35 years, years in which we could have taken the burgeoning env problems seriously, and simply raked in more money for themselves. Now that they are forced to face the problem, why, it'll take decades and, by the way, lots more money from the taxpayers!

GRRRRRRRRRRR.

[Kindigger]

2. Another point

There's been no money to upgrade or maintain infrastructure. Maybe they did think environmentalists were wackos, but we can add emission controls as we watch the rolling blackouts, bridges collapse, and on and on.