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“Cool It” author Bjorn Lomborg on why the use of fracking has helped the environment by reducing the use of coal to produce electricity.
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So this summer you may be dying down -- the debate on fracking is heating up environmentalist Bjorn Lamar calls it quote -- are.
The decade's best green energy option he even -- good for the environment.
-- and is also the author of cool and he joins me now thank -- so much for coming on the show.
-- really insisting connected to me you make the point that in the United States carbon emissions have gone down is it -- what was of the.
Floating below 1991.
Levels -- and and actually per capita.
You're down below what you're -- Back when Eisenhower was he isn't that because people are driving less they're going out they're buying their Prius C is an error you know whenever there's -- -- a tiny bit of that but the vast majority.
That's because you've stopped.
Using cold produces electric think he's starting using gas we've gone from gas used to be 20% of -- about -- maps thirty to 32.
So basically by making fracking so cheap.
You be cheap what nobody else was able to do.
Namely we've dramatically lowered our carbon emissions you know you've -- -- about twice as much as well everyone else including the European Union the Kyoto Protocol.
Managed to do.
There is such a flood of natural gas in the market right now we've seen a price absolutely plummet I mean it around a -- it it was Hurricane Katrina times but it was up about fifteen dollars.
Now it's down to about two -- it's so cheap -- so plentiful.
But a lot of people don't want to sort of embraced the idea that that this is actually good for the -- because it is still after all fossil -- It is and it's not the end of the solution to climate change but listen.
We have been trying for twenty years with Kyoto and that you definitely want to do a lot of good.
We end up -- from heard -- ended up paying what twenty here thirty billion dollars.
To cut carbon emissions half of what do you guys have done and you've done it for free or we actually think you make money doing it because you also got cheaper energy.
That's the way forward also for China and India and for everyone else yeah.
That's the argument to that a lot of people who are proponents of solar and Wyndham whenever don't wanna hear is that.
While fracking has been has been profitable it has -- the environment at the same time.
-- you look at things like to resist big story today at a Wyoming where and -- -- drilling.
And there is a well that is contaminated one way the other seems like you're from the reports and they're dealing with all this and and the neighbors in the neighborhood are saying this is pavilion Wyoming that this is a result of the fracking that's going on nearby so there's a case they would point to saying it's -- -- Analyst and there's nothing that's just fine -- fracking also -- problems and we should definitely have a well regulated.
Most people don't know that you know most water you -- -- from like a hundred feet down.
And most fracking is like a mile down so it's not like the two -- intersecting but you do have to drop your drill down.
Through the water you need to insulate that -- -- regulation.
-- but you've also got to recognize if you care about global warming if you care -- cheap energy prices and if you care about energy independence.
This is a great opportunity.
And a lot of people in the business make the point that when you see something like this it's always a mistake in the well and severe what went wrong as opposed deal.
You know pollution as a result of just general fracking going the way it was supposed to you also make the point.
That he has lowered energy prices which is absolutely true.
It ends and that it's going to make us more energy independent the problem is -- it doesn't replace oil well it doesn't replace gasoline you're talking about swapping it out for -- who doesn't solve maybe 100.
Problems and we -- we weren't running out of coal in your plenty of coal but remember a lot of company's -- trucks are starting to talk about let's move our tracks to.
Gas instead of gasoline and that of course would -- -- lower your are you living creature into the independence.
And of course also -- came up oil.
Looks like -- to happen.
-- exact same outcome so in reality this is a technological breakthrough that provides us with a lot of benefits.
And this is really -- I want did the environmental -- debate to get back to.
We've been preaching for twenty years could you please do with -- less to -- they switch off the light.
And that's a very very hard -- yet but if you can come and say there's a technological loop solution that actually makes you richer.
And as polluting less hate everyone is gonna embrace that yeah excellent tracking for oil becoming much more prevalent now although natural gas is kind of the sweet spot when it comes a price -- -- not very.
