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Ask a Scientist: Gas Plants Disproportionately Harm Marginalized Communities

Union of Concerned Scientists

Responsible for 12 percent of all US global warming emissions from human activities, methane traps significantly more heat per molecule than carbon dioxide, making it 86 times more harmful for the first 20 years after it is released into the atmosphere. First, there’s air pollution.

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Ask a Scientist: Two Dozen States Can Meet 100 Percent of Electricity Demand with Renewables by 2035

Union of Concerned Scientists

Nearly all of the alliance members have a renewable electricity standard (RES), which requires utilities in their jurisdiction to increase their use of renewable energy to a particular percentage by a specific year. We found that states have technically feasible and highly beneficial ways to achieve 100-percent renewable energy.

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A 100% Renewable Energy Future is Possible, and We Need It

Union of Concerned Scientists

And we’re still trying to recover from a pandemic that has made even more clear the disproportionate impacts of air pollution on overburdened communities, making them even more vulnerable to the negative impacts of COVID 19. States have technically feasible and highly beneficial paths to achieving 100 percent renewable energy.

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Reliance on Gas Power Plants Fuels Inequity

Union of Concerned Scientists

And all this polluting infrastructure has serious health and environmental implications for the surrounding communities. Air pollution Gas-fueled power plants and compressor stations release emissions that pollute local air and have dangerous health impacts to nearby residents.

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Good News—and Bad—about Fossil Fuel Power Plants in 2023 

Union of Concerned Scientists

With the clean energy transition already under way, the US electricity mix is set to continue changing this year. Solar power is expected to make up about half of all additions of US electric generating capacity in 2023, according to data from the US Energy Information Administration (EIA). micrometers or less.

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Too Many Gas Power Plants are the Problem Not the Solution

Union of Concerned Scientists

cranks its air conditioners to get through historic high temperatures , the need for energy that slows, not hastens, climate change is more apparent than ever. Yet, in 2022, almost 40% of electricity in the US was generated by power plants fueled by natural gas. And now, as the U.S.

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Ohioans Stuck Burning Coal, Burning Cash

Union of Concerned Scientists

6 is still driving up Ohioans’ electricity bills—and undermining the state’s prospects for a clean energy future. 6 went into effect, Ohio ratepayers have paid more than $182 million to subsidize two 67-year-old coal-fired power plants operated by the Ohio Valley Electric Corporation (OVEC). Since H.B. But thanks to H.B.