A Surplus of Energy That Might Even Last

From the New York Times:

AFTER years of widespread concern over how to refine enough gasoline, how to deliver enough megawatts of electricity and how to keep from drowning in carbon dioxide, the United States suddenly has fuel and energy in surplus, and the country is looking greener. Can it last? And would that be a good thing? The recession was hardly anybody’s idea of a good way to put the country on a sensible energy diet. But it may have done just that. Many coal plants whose emissions were spreading acid rain, mercury and the ingredients of global warming have not been running as much lately, and the price of coal was down by half in the last year — like the price of oil. Demand for electricity was down 1 percent last year and another 4 percent in the first half of 2009; ordinarily, electric use would be expected to grow 5 percent in three to four years. Industrial demand was down to levels not seen since the 1990s.

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