Our Energy Choices: Coal and Other Fossil Fuels
Fossil fuels—coal, natural gas, and oil—supply the vast majority of our energy needs, including more than two-thirds of U.S. electricity generation. Fossil fuels have powered America for more than a century, but their production and use have significant health and environmental impacts, including air and water pollution, environmental degradation, and global warming.
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Big Coal, Big Impact
America has vast coal reserves that provide nearly half the country’s electricity. Though abundant, coal is a dirty energy source that is responsible for more than a quarter of the nation's total global warming emissions, including 80 percent of all those from power plants.
Coal also has significant, and harmful, consequences for the environment. Coal mining degrades surrounding landscapes, burning coal releases toxins into the atmosphere, and coal-generated electricity places heavy demands on water resources. It all adds up to a huge, and costly, impact.
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Natural Gas: Part of a Low-Carbon Transition
Natural gas releases far fewer pollutants than coal and generates about half the global warming emissions to produce the same amount of electricity.
Natural gas does not represent a long-term solution to our energy needs—our supply is finite, there are growing environmental concerns associated with its extraction, and it still produces substantial global warming emissions—but it can serve as a critical ‘bridge technology’ as we transition toward a sustainable energy economy.
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Oil: Major Energy Source, But Not for Electricity
Transportation consumes the majority of U.S. oil supplies, though some oil-fired generators produce electricity as well. Oil accounts for only a small percentage of U.S. electricity needs.
