"Like Exxon, Utilities Knew about Climate Change Risks Decades Ago"

"A new report shows through documents and testimony how utilities researched climate change and determined in the 1970s that it could force a shift away from coal."

"A study issued Tuesday by an energy watchdog group offers important new insights into the fossil fuel industry's extensive early understanding of climate change and the risks it poses.

This time, it's the electric utility sector that's under the microscope.

The detailed study, backed up by reams of archival documents, was issued by the Energy and Policy Institute, an environmental advocacy and research group that favors the use of clean energy over fossil fuels.

Forty years ago, the documents show, industry officials told Congress that the looming problem of climate change might require the world to back away from coal-fired power—something that is only now beginning to happen."

John H. Cushman Jr. reports for InsideClimate News July 25, 2017.