New Focus on Coal’s Part in Warming

James E. Hansen, perhaps the best-known scientific advocate for curbing greenhouse-gas emissions, sent a letter recently to the head of one of the nation’s largest power companies, calling on him to confront the role that his coal-fired plants play in global warming. Hansen proposed they meet.

On Wednesday, James E. Rogers of Duke Energy accepted Hansen’s invitation, though he made clear he does not foresee calling off plans to build more of the power plants that Hansen considers a main culprit in climate change.


The exchange, carried out in full public view, highlights both a recent shift in the climate debate and the difficulty of translating this change into concrete action.

Rogers does not question humans’ contribution to global warming, and he has pledged to largely “decarbonize” his company’s operations by mid-century. But he is not moving as fast as environmental activists would like, and some academics are now arguing that scientists have greatly underestimated the technological leap that will be required in coming decades to curb dangerous warming.

Washington Post