
Greenhouse gas emissions from the largest US industrial plants fell 2.7% in 2017 - DoreenMichele
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-emissions-carbon/u-s-greenhouse-emissions-fell-in-2017-as-coal-plants-shut-idUSKCN1MR2J4
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jphalimi
Bottom line, clean energy is getting cheaper so it cuts emissions of bigger
emitters. Purely economical side-effect.

I think the bigger picture would be to look at solar panel installments and
their overall contribution in the energy package of the US.

Hints: "Solar accounts for 55% of all US electricity added so far in 2018."
Source: [https://www.businessinsider.com/more-solar-power-than-any-
ty...](https://www.businessinsider.com/more-solar-power-than-any-type-of-
electricity-2018-6)

And in the same article: Solar cost lower than coal in North America since
2013:
[https://amp.businessinsider.com/images/5af0a65e19ee8624008b4...](https://amp.businessinsider.com/images/5af0a65e19ee8624008b498d-960-720.jpg)

~~~
ksec
So basically US is moving in the right direction regardless of the Paris
agreement?

~~~
jphalimi
No. Withdrawal of the Paris agreement led to other political initiatives such
as oil and gas projects, such as Keystone XL or new EPA (de)regulations, that
could have been avoided.

Here again, a consequential drop in emissions does not mean that there is a
political effect. Policies such as the Paris agreement are looking for long-
term effects, rather than fluctuation deriving from a specific economical
situation.

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natch
It’s annoying that most studies, statistics, laws, etc. related to coal plants
omit things like coal fired cement plants which are also huge contributors to
pollution.

~~~
Retric
It's not irrelevant, but the cement industry only consumes around 4% of global
coal production.

Further, coal fired cement plants are rather efficient because they can
directly use the high temperature heat energy vs converting it to electricity.
Prioritizing alternative sources of electricity first is simply a better use
of resources.

That said, in aggregate such things are important.

~~~
natch
Good to know (especially the second part)... I hadn’t thought about it that
way.

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philipkglass
In related news:

9 October, 2018:

"One of oldest coal companies in US files for bankruptcy"

[https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/one-of-oldest-us-
coa...](https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/one-of-oldest-us-coal-
companies-files-for-
bankruptcy/2018/10/09/ec8d00e6-cbf2-11e8-ad0a-0e01efba3cc1_story.html)

17 October, 2018:

"Mission Coal files for bankruptcy—5th coal company in 3 years"

[https://www.cbsnews.com/news/mission-coal-bankruptcy-
marks-5...](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/mission-coal-bankruptcy-marks-5th-
coal-company-in-3-years/)

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howinator
Title is misleading. Overall emissions didn't fall, rather, "Greenhouse gases
emissions from the largest U.S. industrial plants fell 2.7 percent in 2017"

~~~
petermcneeley
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenhouse_gas_emissions_by_th...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenhouse_gas_emissions_by_the_United_States#/media/File:US_CO2_Emissions_1980-2012.png)

[https://www.statista.com/statistics/183943/us-carbon-
dioxide...](https://www.statista.com/statistics/183943/us-carbon-dioxide-
emissions-from-1999/)

Looks like its going down to me. This is energy only.

