Conspiracy Or Incompetence? Why Fossil Fuels Are Flying – MENAFN.COM

Conspiracy Or Incompetence? Why Fossil Fuels Are Flying – MENAFN.COM

U. S. coal use is on track to jump 23 percent this year, for the first time since 2013. European utilities are switching from gas to coal because of the former's soaring prices. And Brent crude just passed $84 per barrel. At the helm in Washington is Joe Biden, a president who came into office with a pledge to reduce American energy dependence on fossil fuels. At the helm in the EU are people equally dedicated to phasing out oil, gas, and coal, and replace them with low-carbon alternatives. Yet, it seems fossil fuels have been the only winners from their energy transition efforts. In a world where conspiracy theories are becoming increasingly popular, someone somewhere must have already started suspecting Big Oil's influence. After all, a couple of years ago, a U. S. House committee accused Russia of inciting the protests against the Dakota Access pipeline"to suppress the research and development of fossil fuels and stymie efforts to expand the use of natural gas," per a Fortune report. Last week, Bloomberg's Will Wade reported that during Trump's term in office, coal consumption by utilities in the U. S. had fallen by 36 percent despite all of Trump's efforts to