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”Not only in the US, but across most of the Anglo sphere.” Not in the UK. Coal use has plummeted by 84% in 5 years (84 million tonnes in 2014 to 8 million tonn

”Not only in the US, but across most of the Anglo sphere.” Not in the UK. Coal use has plummeted by 84% in 5 years (84 million tonnes in 2014 to 8 million tonnes in 2019), while renewable energy has been hugely expanded. All under “right wing” (Conservative) governments. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/aug/09/is-this-the-end-for-king-coal-in-britain https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/aug/09/is-this-...

jandrese 6y ago
Coal use has collapsed in the US too entirely for economic reasons, but it doesn't stop the politicians from making ads about how liberals are coming for your jobs because they hate your way of life and airing them constantly in rural areas.
- mywittyname 6y ago
  The Right was smart to latch onto coal. It will never come back, so they can complain about it forever. We all know that they love to sell nostalgia. And their target demographic isn't too interested in facts, so they'll never learn the reality that it was deregulation lead to a natural gas boom, which lead to the free market dealing the death blow to coal. So they can keep selling evil job killing regulations as the reason for the decline of everything great in this country. Renewables get the headlines, but those coal plants are mostly being replaced with natural gas ones. The media reports "renewables overtake coal for the first time," which gives the false impression that solar and wind are displacing coal. But that's not what's really happening, which is that those former coal plants now burn natural gas because it's cheaper.
  - Reason077 6y ago
    > "Renewables get the headlines, but those coal plants are mostly being replaced with natural gas ones." Not true in the UK. Natural gas use has also declined, albeit only slightly, in recent years. There has also been a net loss of capacity in the past decade as more old NG plants have closed than new ones built. Meanwhile, coal, which produced 42% of all UK electricity as recently as 2012, has almost gone to zero while renewables (the bulk of which is offshore wind) are at 37% - and growing every year.
    - mywittyname 6y ago
      Sorry, I thought it was clear that my comments were specific to the USA, where 103 out of 121 coal plants decommissioned since 2011 have been replaced with natural gas plants. https://oilprice.com/Energy/Coal/Natural-Gas-Has-Replaced-Over-100-US-Coal-Plants-In-The-Last-Decade.html https://oilprice.com/Energy/Coal/Natural-Gas-Has-Replaced-Ov...
rsynnott 6y ago
While this specific one doesn't work in the UK, there is a wider thread of "regulation bad" in right-wing British politics; it was a major factor in the Brexit vote.

jandrese 6y ago

Coal use has collapsed in the US too entirely for economic reasons, but it doesn't stop the politicians from making ads about how liberals are coming for your jobs because they hate your way of life and airing them constantly in rural areas.

mywittyname 6y ago
The Right was smart to latch onto coal. It will never come back, so they can complain about it forever. We all know that they love to sell nostalgia. And their target demographic isn't too interested in facts, so they'll never learn the reality that it was deregulation lead to a natural gas boom, which lead to the free market dealing the death blow to coal. So they can keep selling evil job killing regulations as the reason for the decline of everything great in this country. Renewables get the headlines, but those coal plants are mostly being replaced with natural gas ones. The media reports "renewables overtake coal for the first time," which gives the false impression that solar and wind are displacing coal. But that's not what's really happening, which is that those former coal plants now burn natural gas because it's cheaper.
- Reason077 6y ago
  > "Renewables get the headlines, but those coal plants are mostly being replaced with natural gas ones." Not true in the UK. Natural gas use has also declined, albeit only slightly, in recent years. There has also been a net loss of capacity in the past decade as more old NG plants have closed than new ones built. Meanwhile, coal, which produced 42% of all UK electricity as recently as 2012, has almost gone to zero while renewables (the bulk of which is offshore wind) are at 37% - and growing every year.
  - mywittyname 6y ago
    Sorry, I thought it was clear that my comments were specific to the USA, where 103 out of 121 coal plants decommissioned since 2011 have been replaced with natural gas plants. https://oilprice.com/Energy/Coal/Natural-Gas-Has-Replaced-Over-100-US-Coal-Plants-In-The-Last-Decade.html https://oilprice.com/Energy/Coal/Natural-Gas-Has-Replaced-Ov...

rsynnott 6y ago

While this specific one doesn't work in the UK, there is a wider thread of "regulation bad" in right-wing British politics; it was a major factor in the Brexit vote.