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I think the problems the fossil fuel industry are having, such as they are, have little to do with climate change and more to do with either economics being aga
by nikdaheratik 8y ago
I think the problems the fossil fuel industry are having, such as they are, have little to do with climate change and more to do with either economics being against them, in the case of coal, or fraking in the case of natural gas. The "environment concerns" around fraking include increased earthquakes and contamination of groundwater and are a pretty big deal. The tradeoff is that by allowing fraking, the US is no longer dependent on the middle east for oil and doesn't need to worry about having to import natural gas for the foreseeable future, so it's not as clear cut as it would otherwise be.
I don't think anything that the Trump administration has done has changed any of the core issues. All of the changes they have made have been pretty blatent givaways to their donors, which also happen to be alot of fossil fuel companies, but they're still rearranging deckchairs on the Titanic as far as actual effects on coal. As far as Oil and Natural Gas, there's still the problem of regulatory uncertainty and the dropping cost of alternative energy, which means companies are still more likely to keep fraking going on existing wells until they're dry rather than try to actually drill in the new areas that have been opened up. They still want the option to drill later on if conditions change, but they're moving very slowly in most cases.