Posted inNews

One way to combat climate change: Tank the economy

by Michael Regan February 17, 2011 @ 12:00 amMarch 4, 2022 @ 9:09 pm

Facebook
Bluesky
X
LinkedIn
Reddit
Email
Print

Republish this article

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Nonprofit and hyperlocal news organizations are welcome to republish CT Mirror stories and opinion pieces at no charge. If you do republish CT Mirror content we ask that you follow a few guidelines:

You must use the HTML code below (including the Canonical code).
You must include a byline, ideally in this format: "by Ginny Monk, CT Mirror."
Access to CT Mirror content that you republish must remain free. You may not sell access to this article, place it behind a paywall, or grant downstream publication rights to other publishers.
You must receive approval from CT Mirror Publisher Bruce Putterman prior to re-publishing your first CT Mirror story.
See additional Republishing Guidelines, including conditions by which you may make small changes to story content, here.

One way to combat climate change: Tank the economy

by Michael Regan, CT Mirror
February 17, 2011

<h1>One way to combat climate change: Tank the economy</h1>
<p class="byline">by Michael Regan, CT Mirror <br />February 17, 2011</p>

<p>The period between 2008 and 2009 saw the largest decrease in U.S. greenhouse gas emissions in 20 years, <span class="byline">Tiffany Stecker says at Climatewire, and <a href="http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=economic-slump-energy-efficiency-drop-us-greenhouse-gas">the lousy economy</a> gets part of the credit.</span></p>
<p><span class="byline">That was hardly the only reason: Better technology, recycling of industrial materials, higher prices for coal and lower costs for natural gas also contributed, Stecker reports. But the Environmental Protection Agency also cites the poor economy as a factor, she says.</span></p>
<p><span class="byline">Overall, greenhouse gas emissions declined 6 percent during the period, the EPA reported. </span>Over the past 20 years, greenhouse gas emissions in the United States have increased steadily by about 0.4 percent annually.</p>
<p>This &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://ctmirror.org/2011/02/17/one-way-combat-climate-change-tank-economy/&quot;&gt;article&lt;/a&gt; first appeared on &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://ctmirror.org&quot;&gt;CT Mirror&lt;/a&gt; and is republished here under a &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/&quot;&gt;Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;img src=&quot;https://ctmirror.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/cropped-CTMirror_bug_rgb-180x180.jpg&quot; style=&quot;width:1em;height:1em;margin-left:10px;&quot;&gt;</p>
&lt;img id=&quot;republication-tracker-tool-source&quot; src=&quot;https://ctmirror.org/?republication-pixel=true&amp;post=780735&amp;amp;ga4=G-9GVNVL530Q&quot; style=&quot;width:1px;height:1px;&quot;&gt;&lt;script&gt; PARSELY = { autotrack: false, onload: function() { PARSELY.beacon.trackPageView({ url: &quot;https://ctmirror.org/2011/02/17/one-way-combat-climate-change-tank-economy/&quot;, urlref: window.location.href }); } } &lt;/script&gt; &lt;script id=&quot;parsely-cfg&quot; src=&quot;//cdn.parsely.com/keys/ctmirror.org/p.js&quot;&gt;&lt;/script&gt;

The period between 2008 and 2009 saw the largest decrease in U.S. greenhouse gas emissions in 20 years, Tiffany Stecker says at Climatewire, and the lousy economy gets part of the credit.

That was hardly the only reason: Better technology, recycling of industrial materials, higher prices for coal and lower costs for natural gas also contributed, Stecker reports. But the Environmental Protection Agency also cites the poor economy as a factor, she says.

Overall, greenhouse gas emissions declined 6 percent during the period, the EPA reported. Over the past 20 years, greenhouse gas emissions in the United States have increased steadily by about 0.4 percent annually.

High bar. High impact.

We hold our newsroom to a high standard — in quality of stories, ethical practices, depth of knowledge on their beats, transparency, and impact of the journalism. We like to think that it is a bar any other outlet should strive to meet, too.

We just set a new bar by winning the Pulitzer Prize for Local Reporting.

The award is a crowning achievement sitting atop a mountain of substantive impact, including change spurred by the On the Hook series that was recognized. It woke up public officials to the festering practice of towing and quickly selling people’s cars before their owners could hope to get them back. The story immediately changed the law that allowed it to happen (as immediate as government can move).

That’s what you get from CT Mirror: high caliber, high impact journalism.

The newsroom didn’t begin their multi-year investigation into the towing industry with a thought that it would win them a Pulitzer, but they did know they had something momentous that could reshape public policy.

For every long-term investigation that didn’t win a Pulitzer, many still could have for the level of reporting we did and the changes in lives and laws that came from them.

When you donate, you become part of publishing the stories and creating the impact. Will you make a gift today?

Recurring support ensures CT Mirror continues delivering the accountability journalism Connecticut needs — now and for years to come.

Thank you.

Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Leave a comment

You've read 6 stories this month.

You've read 3 stories this month.

You've read 5 stories this month.

Get essential news about Connecticut schools.