OPINION:
“Discretion is the better part of valor,” Shakespeare artfully wrote. The elite among the world’s industrialized nations have taken a deep breath and prudently paused their headlong rush to swear off the use of coal, the power-packed rock that was beloved before it was hated. In terms blunter than Shakespeare’s, common sense has prevailed.
The Group of Seven nations have agreed to avoid a firm commitment to phasing out coal-fired power plants by 2030 — a measure mulled during weekend meetings on climate, energy and environmental policy in Sapporo, Japan. In addition to their concession to coal, representatives of the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, plus the European Union, acknowledged that clean natural gas can help build a bridge to the fossil-fuel-free future they crave.
Japanese Trade and Industry Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura summarized the smart concessions in appropriate diplo-speak: “While acknowledging that there are diverse pathways to achieve carbon neutral, we agreed on the importance of aiming for a common goal toward 2050.”
At the same time, the leaders sharpened their renewable energy goals, pledging to amp up offshore wind energy capacity by 150 gigawatts and solar energy production to more than 1 gigawatt by 2030. Their energy moves have been spurred by the unforeseen impact of Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, which has crippled Europe’s access to Russian natural gas and oil, and has threatened energy security worldwide.
In Germany, fossil fuels are receiving renewed attention with the shuttering of the last three remaining nuclear power plants on April 15. Climate activists, who had staged a prolonged and relentless anti-nuclear campaign, finally got their wish. They have reportedly moved on to new goals with banners reading, “Stop coal,” along with unhinged tweets advocating “Abolition of democracy.”
Bereft of clean nuclear energy, desperate authorities have concluded they have no choice but to burn more coal. Even the revered climate goddess Greta Thunberg was given the boot when she tried to interfere with the construction of a coal mine. With eons of darkness and servitude in their past, Germans are willing to surrender neither coal nor democracy.
Likewise, up-and-coming India is planning to expand rather than reduce its coal-powered capacity in its new fiscal year. NTPC Ltd., India’s largest electric utility, is boosting its coal-mining production by 48% to add 4.5 gigawatts of energy to the nation’s electrical grid, Bloomberg reports. The move reflects a recognition by India’s leaders that a developing nation of 1.4 billion cannot simply leap the incremental steps that others have trod along the pathway to modernity.
Moreover, global warming that militates against fossil-fuel use has been in pause mode for eight years and nine months, according to satellite readings of lower-atmospheric temperatures gathered by the University of Alabama in Huntsville. Yet independently, atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations have continued to rise, from 399 parts per million in 2015 to 421 ppm in March. Lacking an indisputable correlation between temperature and emissions, it is reasonable to make concessions for urgent energy requirements.
Using discretion along their own pathway to modernization, the G-7 nations have demonstrated that grimy steppingstones like coal can nonetheless lead to a cleaner world.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.