Obama Says the World’s Move Toward Renewables Is “Irreversible”

Changing economic realities mean that America is already reducing its emissions, but the president says more action is needed to accelerate the process.

The renewable energy revolution is already under way, and there’s nothing you can do to stop it.

That’s the point President Barack Obama sought to make in a piece published today in Science in which he outlined, as he put it, “the four reasons I believe the trend toward clean energy is irreversible.”

He started off with a biggie.  It’s long been received wisdom that economic growth is associated with increased energy usage—which means more greenhouse gas emissions. That’s been true for decades—but since 2008 there has been a dramatic shift in how America gets its energy.  As a result, Obama says, the economy grew more than 10 percent from 2008 to 2015 while CO2 emissions fell.  This is something we have also observed, and Obama’s assertion that the trend has gone global checks out, too.

Read more at Obama Says the World’s Move Toward Renewables Is “Irreversible”