Coal and Global Warming

This month, U.S. P.I.R.G., released a report called “ The Carbon Boom: National and State Trends in Carbon Dioxide Emissions Since 1960”.

A lot of people ask me, why do you care about air pollution? Global warming is going to be the only problem we’ll be worrying about in 50 years.

Well, with such a complicated issue as global warming (I challenge anybody to find something more complicated than global warming) PIRG does us the favor of making the connection between coal mining, power production, coal-fired power plants, air quality, and… gasp!…Global Warming.

I’d encourage you to read the whole thing, but here is my attempt to give you the short and easy story through graphs and the magic of

blockquotes

…tech geeks, number nerds, and ye of great courage and a stout heart, proceed…

…

A dramatic growth in oil emissions from the transportation sector and coal emissions from electricity generation fueled the rapid increase in U.S. carbon dioxide emissions between 1960 and 2001.

83% of our global warming pollution is energy related CO2.

Over half (54%) of America’s energy comes from coal.

Coal has the highest carbon content of any fossil fuel, meaning that burning coal for electricity produces more carbon per unit of energy than does burning oil or natural gas, which contain about 25 percent and 45 percent less carbon than coal, respectively.61 While coal-fired power plants produced 53 percent of U.S. electricity in 2001, they emitted 82 percent of carbon dioxide emissions from electricity generation.

And we’re using more and more and more and more of it…

…carbon dioxide emissions from coal combustion in the electricity sector skyrocketed from 1960 to 2001, increasing by 370 percent, as demand for electricity boomed. In 2001, the electricity sector was responsible for 90 percent of total U.S. carbon dioxide emissions from coal combustion.

Twenty-eight (28) states more than doubled their carbon dioxide emissions between 1960 and 2001.

What about the Southeast? Georgia, North Carolina, and Kentucky were all in the top 8 fastest growers.

Carbon dioxide emissions from coal increased most rapidly in the Southeast United States, which also saw the largest increase in new coal-fired power plant capacity over the four decades studied. Coal emissions in the Southeast rose by 408.9 million metric tons from 1960 to 2001, an increase of 185 percent; at the same time, coal-fired power plant capacity exploded, increasing by 84,000 megawatts (MW), or 350 percent.

Excuse the fuzzy graphics. It basically says that Appalachian states increased their % of coal-fired power plant pollution at a FAR greater rate than the rest of the country, which averaged a 40% incresae from 1960-2001. WV increased its coal-powered CO2 pollution 87%. Thats how we compare.

Carbon dioxide emissions from coal climbed 1.1 billion metric tons between 1960 and 2001, accounting for 40 percent of the total increase in U.S. carbon dioxide emissions. Increased electricity generation from coal-fired power plants fueled this rapid growth. Emissions from coal combustion in the electricity sector skyrocketed from 1960 to 2001, increasing by 370 percent, as demand for electricity boomed.

Simple huh?

Going to see Al Gore’s movie on global warming tonight – An Inconvenient Truth. I am very much looking forward to it.

Think Progress has more.

About JW Randolph

Raised on the banks of the Tennessee River, JW's work to create progress in his home state and throughout Appalachia has been featured on the Rachel Maddow Show, The Daily Kos and Grist. He served first as Appalachian Voices’ Legislative Associate and then Tennessee director until leaving to pursue a career in medicine in 2012.