One Word — Plastics

Why the World Will be Slow to Abandon Natural Gas

Marine debris throughout the ocean puts endangered species like this Hawaiian monk seal at risk. Photo credit: NOAA

Petrochemicals are the 800-pound gorilla that many fail to account for in their climate defense plans. Termed a blind spot of the global energy system by the International Energy Agency (IEA) petrochemicals are a driving force behind the increasing demand for fossil fuels.

Petrochemicals also appear to be one of the driving forces behind Trump’s re-election campaign. In the coming weeks and months, Appalachia coal regions and portions of the Rust Belt will become ground zero in the environmental battle between Trump and contenders for the Democratic presidential nomination and, ultimately, for the presidency. In the end, will it all come down to one word — PLASTICS?

Whether he is willing to admit it or not, Donald John Trump surely understands that coal will never return to market prominence in the power sector — absent some miraculous breakthroughs in combustion and carbon capture technologies. Technologies the Trump administration has shown little interest in developing.

Although Trump accuses Democrats of having launched a war on coal, the real culprits in terms of coal’s declining demand are market forces, e.g., the price of alternatives, about which even coal-state Republicans have shown little genuine interest in overriding. Having promised renewed prosperity to coal country…