Environmental Issues: Energy

Energy Main Page

All Documents in Energy Tagged coal

Coal in a Changing Climate
This index collects policy documents about the implications of the world's reliance on coal.
Index

This index collects policy documents about the implications of the world's reliance on coal.

No More Mountaintop Removal
Action

Across Appalachia, mining companies are wiping out some of America’s oldest and most revered mountains -- along with all that those mountains provide to the natural systems and communities they support. Take action now!

Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining Destroys Communities
Fact Sheet

Mountaintop removal (MTR) coal mining is one of the world’s most destructive practices for extracting fossil fuels. This extreme method of strip mining is scarring the landscape and threatening communities. All across Central Appalachia -- between the hollows of West Virginia, bordering the Blue Ridge of Virginia, beyond the bluegrass of Kentucky, and above the smoky vistas of Tennessee -- companies are tearing down mountains to access the coal below. In the process they are clear-cutting miles of forests, filling the rivers with coal mining waste, polluting the waters with toxic runoff, and sacrificing the safety of the people who call this region home. MTR coal mining sites, which can exceed 10 square miles, have already leveled more than 500 summits so far. Get document in pdf.

Limit to Producing "Cheap" Coal Makes Liquid Coal Plans Unworkable
Fact Sheet

While the coal industry has been aggressively promoting the development of a large liquid coal industry in the United States, it is unrealistic to expect that customers could be supplied with domestic coal at reasonable prices. According to the most recent Energy Information Administration Annual Energy Outlook report, if the liquid coal industry grew to the size proposed by industry lobbyists, the United States would have to import coal beginning in just six years. The increased demand created by a liquid coal industry could raise electricity rates as well as increase emissions of global warming pollution, bringing costs that far outweigh the benefits that would come from a large domestic liquid coal industry. Get document in pdf.

Contaminated Coal Waste
Power plants produce about 130 million tons of contaminated waste every year, and the federal government has failed to regulate it
Overview

Across the nation, coal-fired power plants aren't just polluting our skies and water. Each year, they generate millions of tons of waste contaminated with toxic metals -- more than two-thirds of which is dumped into landfills, storage ponds or old mines or otherwise stored somewhere, just waiting for disaster to strike.

Scenes from a Dirty Coal Disaster
A coal ash spill in Tennessee shows the dangers of toxic sludge produced by coal-fired power plants
Photo Album

Images from a coal ash spill in Tennessee show the dangers of toxic sludge produced by coal-fired power plants.

Coal is Dirty and Dangerous
Efficiency and renewables are better options for repowering America with clean energy
Overview

Coal is America’s No. 1 global warming polluter, despite the industry hype. Clean energy alternatives are better choices for our health, welfare and the U.S. economy.

Coal Is Hazardous to Your Health
Coal-fired power plants threaten the environment and your health.
Index

Burning coal releases enormous amounts of harmful pollutants into the air and water, with serious health consequences. Waste generated by coal-fired power plants contains hazardous pollutants that can contaminate our drinking water and cause cancer, birth defects and reproductive problems. This index of fact sheets describes the health hazards of our continued reliance on coal.

Hearing on Future Options for Generation of Electricity from Coal
June 24, 2003
Testimony

Presented before the U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce, Subcommittee on Energy and Air Quality, by David Hawkins, director of NRDC's climate center, on June 24, 2003.

For additional policy documents, see the NRDC Document Bank.
For older publications available only in print, click here.