From Coal To Gas: The Potential Risks And Rewards

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This past week, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) released a report
linking climate change to some of the extreme weather events of 2011,
like the devastating drought in Texas and record high temperatures in
Britain.

None of this bodes well for the
future, but there is a glimmer of hope. It turns out that U.S. carbon
emissions are down nearly 8 percent since 2006.

Much
of that has to do with the weak economy — people are consuming less
electricity. But another part could be related to the decline of coal
and the rise of cleaner-burning natural gas. This boom in natural gas
has been killing the Appalachian coal industry, but it also has environmental impacts both good and bad.

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