Is Natural Gas the Natural Selection?

Rising environmental and health concerns associated with the consumption of coal have pushed energy producers to opt for natural gas, but is the shift sustainable?

The consumption of coal has grown rapidly in the past decade due to strong demand from both developing and developed countries. However, this is a major source of concern for environmentalists and climatologists, who warn that the combustion of coal releases harmful greenhouse gases which can exacerbate global warming and environmental pollution.

James Hensen, a climate scientist at NASA, has gone so far as to say that coal is the single greatest threat to human civilization and all life on the planet. He may have a point: according to a 2010 study conducted by Conrad Schneider and Jonathan Banks, coal plant emissions cause approximately 10,000 hospitalizations, more than 20,000 heart attacks, and 13,000 premature deaths every year in the US. Read more