Absent EPA Rules, Some See Natural Gas As Obama's Default Climate Policy

摘要

Recent decisions by the Obama administration addressing natural gas issues suggest that the White House has chosen to promote increased production and development of the low-carbon fuel as its default climate policy, some observers say, possibly because officials lack the appetite for a policy to cut greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. While such views are not universally held, those who see the administration's promotion of natural gas as a default climate policy say that increased use of the fuel has at least allowed the administration to reduce reliance on higher-emitting coal facilities but it has likely made it more difficult to advance renewables. Whether the administration eventually issues GHG rules, for now its support for natural gas aligns it closely with many Republicans' views that gas is an effective way to reduce GHGs.