What Big Green does not want you to know

Liz Peek:

As most of the country suffers under record-breaking temperatures, the “I told you so” crowd screams for even greater efforts to rein in our carbon emissions. What the green lobby hasn’t been so quick to broadcast is that the United States is actually leading the world in reducing our carbon footprint. 

In the first quarter of the year, the International Energy Agency reports that US carbon-dioxide emissions totaled 1.34 billion tons, down 7.8 percent from the year before. The latest Environmental Protection Agency data show that our CO2 emissions in 2010 were 6.6 percent below the 2005 level.

The drop has stemmed from the recession, but also increased use of natural gas instead of higher-emission fuels. Robert Bryce of the Manhattan Institute reports that in the first four months of this year, electricity produced from coal was down 21 percent, while power from natural gas rose 34 percent. 

As surging supplies pushed gas prices to decade lows, utilities ramped up purchases. Since gas is cleaner than coal or oil, emissions fell. 

A study out from Lawrence Cathies at Cornell University concludes that using substituting natural gas for coal and oil in generating electricity may be almost half as effective in reducing emissions as substituting wind or sun power. And gas is much, much cheaper. 

This is good news — but not news the green lobby wants you to know. It thrives on scary projections of rising oceans and global famine. And, on hot weather. 

In recent (more temperate) years, Americans concluded that global warming is not as important as putting food on the table. Enthusiasm for President Obama’s expensive green agenda waned, dampened by embarrassing miscues like the bankruptcies of Solyndra and Beacon Power as well as reports that key researchers fiddled with the facts on climate change. 

Yet the push for alternative energy has proceeded apace, draining government coffers and injecting into our sodden economy higher electricity costs and other expenses that are slowing growth. 

Some 29 states have already adopted binding green-energy targets, driving up their electricity costs by 32 percent, according to Bryce. In states that once relied on cheap coal, mandated changes pushed electricity prices up 54 percent.

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Big Green hates anything that makes their inefficient alternatives look inadequate and natural gas certainly does that at a price that saves money for electrical customers.   What big Green wants is to see is in 400 square foot homes without air conditioning and most appliances, leaving us dirtier and uncomfortable.