Study shows a great America is one that’s more carbon-free

Sunday, Dec. 25, 2016 | 2 a.m.

Famously, Donald Trump doesn’t read long reports. Instead, he has staffers condense the material into summary memos.

So here’s hoping somebody on his team will crunch a new Brookings Institution report on carbon emissions and put it in front of him.

The report debunks an argument by Trump and others that the economy is being stifled by regulations and policies aimed at reducing emissions from coal-fired power plants.

With a state-by-state examination of the economy, Brookings researchers took on the longstanding notion that growth was inextricably linked to an increase in carbon emissions due to a need for more carbon-based power to run businesses and stoke output.

The researchers found that 34 states had managed to “decouple” growth from carbon emissions — in other words, to grow their economies without a coinciding increase in emissions — from 2000 to 2014. Nevada was among the top 10 of those states, with a 42.5 percent difference between gross domestic product and emissions growth.

According to the report, the decoupling has extended to the national economy, as well, with GDP in the U.S. growing by 30 percent from 2000 to 2015 as emissions dropped by 15 percent.

While the pro-coal crowd might contend that the economy would have grown even faster if not for regulations on fossil fuels, the report shows that decoupling actually can accelerate growth. Twenty-two of the 34 states that had decoupled grew faster during the 2000-2014 period than they did in the previous 14 years.

What’s driving the dynamic? Industry restructuring, technological changes and market forces. Behind all of that were federal funding and innovative governmental policies — and yes, regulations — that prompted technological strides and expanded energy options that didn’t involve coal. Among the positive outcomes was that several outdated coal-burning power plants have been retired.

So for Trump to dial back on funding for low-carbon technology and on regulation of emissions would be foolish, not only in light of the Brookings findings but from an environmental standpoint.

The nation is moving in the right direction. Amazing products are being developed to tap into renewable resources, such as Tesla’s remarkable new solar roofing tiles. The tiles look like ordinary shingles or ceramic roofing tiles, but they’re made of textured glass that allows light to shine through to a standard flat solar cell.

Other products that have either been brought to the market or are under development include solar paint, driveway material and window coatings. Remember, too, that Tesla has already developed residential batteries that allow solar energy to be stored overnight and on cloudy days, or wind energy to be stored when the breeze stops blowing.

And those are just some of the remarkable innovations on the horizon.

Meanwhile, though, there’s another change in the offing that won’t be so welcome. The glut of natural gas and oil produced by fracking, which has led to significant carbon-emission reductions by allowing utilities to retire coal plants, isn’t going to last forever.

So with the nation enjoying a window of opportunity to keep moving toward a more carbon-free grid, it’s crucial for Trump not to set back research and development of renewable energy sources by scaling back funding or relaxing regulations.

As the evidence uncovered by Brookings shows, it’s unnecessary to increase carbon emissions to make the economy blossom, and maintaining current policies on carbon can even make it grow faster.

Sounds like a great step for someone who’s vowed to make America great again.