Report decouples carbon emissions, economic health

From 2008 through 2013, the US economy grew while power plants’ carbon emissions fell, according to a detailed study by four major utility companies, Bank of America and several environmental groups.

The analysis indicates that emissions controls on fossil-fuel-burning power plants may create less of an economic drag than many assume — and that the Obama administration’s proposed Clean Power Plan may have less of an adverse effect than critics contend.

The report matches US economic activity with power-plant emissions during that five-year period. Although demand for electricity was somewhat weaker during the recession than before, the US gross-domestic-product economy still grew while power-plant emissions fell 12 percent and nitrogen oxides, sulfur and mercury pollutants dropped proportionately. This follows news that the global economy grew in 2014 while carbon emissions remained flat.