OPINION: How natural gas and nuclear have made the U.S. greener, times two
Two-thirds of U.S. states saw their economies grow while they reduced their carbon dioxide emissions from 2000 to 2014. They did this by relying more on natural gas and nuclear energy for electricity production and less on coal, according to a recent report by the Brookings Institution.
Thirty-three states, primarily in the Northeast and South, as well as the District of Columbia, reduced their carbon emissions while they grew their gross domestic products (GDP) during those years, a term known as “decoupling.” Many northeastern states reduced their carbon emissions by increasing the amount of electricity they generate from natural gas, while parts of the South did so, in part, because they rely on nuclear energy.
Several analyses from earlier this year already found dozens of countries decoupled, a feat once thought near impossible because renewable energies were thought to hurt economic growth. In fact, the World Resources Institute (WRI) found in April that the U.S. is the largest country to experience multiple consecutive years of decoupling. But the study by the Brooking Institution’s Metropolitan Policy Program is the first of its kind to examine this trend state-by-state.