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U.S. Coal Consumption Plummets to 40 Year Low
Total U.S. coal consumption is expected to fall to its lowest level in nearly 40 years, according to a report by the federal Energy Information Agency, or EIA.
The use of coal by the U.S. power sector will drop by 4 percent, or 691 million short tons for 2018.
The EIA wrote in a blog post published on Dec. 4, that the drop "in coal consumption since 2007 is the result of both the retirements of coal-fired power plants and the decreases in the capacity factors, or utilization, of coal plants as increased competition from natural gas and renewable sources have reduced coal's market share."
Last week, S&P Global Market Intelligence reported that coal plant closings doubled in President Trump's second year in office, despite his repeated pledge to "end the war on coal."
"The trend lines showing the demise of coal shouldn't come as a shock to anyone, including those in the Trump administration and coal industry executives," said Environmental Working Group President Ken Cook. "There are times when the entire state of California, the fifth largest economy in the world, is powered entirely by renewable energy sources, and other states from across the country are actively pursuing clean energy policies."
During the 2016 campaign, then-candidate Trump repeatedly told crowds in coal-reliant regions of the country that as President he would 'bring back coal.' Trump carried the state of West Virginia by more than 40 points over Hillary Clinton largely over his pledge to bring coal jobs back to hard hit communities in Appalachia.
In May, 2016 Trump told a throng of West Virginia coal miners "Get ready because you're going to be working your asses off."
As President, he's put forth policies backed by the coal lobby, including repealing the Obama-era Clean Power Plan, pulling the U.S. out of the Paris climate accord, weakening water and air standards and pushing a now-shelved plan to bailout out the coal and nuclear industries on the backs of ratepayers.
"No one should have been surprised that candidate Trump made empty promises to bring back coal, or that as president he has utterly failed to do so," said Cook. "The surprise is that coal miners have consistently bought into his cynical pandering."
By Julia Conley
Sixteen-year-old climate action leader Greta Thunberg stood alongside European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker Thursday in Brussels as he indicated—after weeks of climate strikes around the world inspired by the Swedish teenager—that the European Union has heard the demands of young people and pledged more than $1 trillion over the next seven years to address the crisis of a rapidly heating planet.
In the financial period beginning in 2021, Juncker said, the EU will devote a quarter of its budget to solving the crisis.
Trump's Wall Threatens 93 Endangered Species
A giant bee the size of an adult thumb was found alive for the first time in nearly 40 years, The New York Times reported Thursday.
With eight million metric tons of plastic entering the world's oceans every year, there is growing concern about the proliferation of plastics in the environment. Despite this, surprisingly little is known about the full impact of plastic pollution on human health.
But a first-of-its-kind study released Tuesday sets out to change that. The study, Plastic & Health: The Hidden Costs of a Plastic Planet, is especially groundbreaking because it looks at the health impacts of every stage in the life cycle of plastics, from the extraction of the fossil fuels that make them to their permanence in the environment. While previous studies have focused on particular products, manufacturing processes or moments in the creation and use of plastics, this study shows that plastics pose serious health risks at every stage in their production, use and disposal.
Air pollution within the home causes 3.8 million deaths a year, according to the World Health Organization. A recent University of Colorado in Boulder study reported by The Guardian found that cooking a full Thanksgiving meal could raise levels of particulate matter 2.5 in the house higher than the levels averaged in New Delhi, the world's sixth most polluted city.
But soon, you will be able to shop for a solution in the same place you buy your budget roasting pans. IKEA is working on a specially-designed, air-purifying curtain called the GUNRID.
A rare species of giant tortoise, feared extinct for more than 100 years, was sighted on the Galápagos island of Fernandina Sunday, the Ecuadorian government announced.