alternatehistory.com

What if climate change was recognized in the mid to late 1970s instead of the late 1980s? Would coal still make the big comeback it did in the 1970s after developing flue gas desulfurization, or would greenhouse gas emissions hold it back? Would there be more emphasis on using electricity instead of natural gas, perhaps including the use of natural gas in power plants (discouraged at the time due to limited reserves)? Could it lead to a revival of major hydropower projects in Canada and the United States, with the environmental impacts being written off like they historically were for coal? Would nuclear energy take the place of renewable power? Would the environmentalist movement accept climate change theory if the government did, or might they try to deny it as an excuse for continuing the construction of new hydropower and nuclear power stations since climate change theory would favor the two sources of power they were most opposed to?
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