“Environmentalists Get a Dose of Good News”

An article was recently published by Politico with the above title, and it appears that news is indeed good. The electric sector has already met its emission-reducing goals for 2024 under the Clean Power Plan and has met its coal reduction goals for 2030 under the same plan. This is excellent news because the Clean Power Plan will likely not survive the new administration. The reason for these achievements is largely based on the transition from coal to natural gas.

This is relevant to resiliency for a number of reasons. First, the fact that coal is dying out in the United States is huge to our long-term environmental goals. However, the rise of natural gas is troublesome in its own right. Natural gas, although cheaper, still presents a range of environmental problems, such as methane gas release, pollution of water sources through the fracturing process or by pipeline spills, and by creating miniature earthquakes in regions with heavy fracking due to the fracturing of the crust.

Although this is a win, and one that should be celebrated, there is still more work to do. Renewable sources are a better alternative to all fossil fuels in the long term and are increasingly becoming a better alternative in the short term. By pushing focusing on renewable energy, we can truly begin to develop a resilient and sustainable system, both inside and outside of New York City.