Ten Reasons Why Coal is Dirty
- Coal Increases Rates of Disease - According to the American Lung Association, 24,000 people die prematurely each year because of pollution from coal-fired power plants.
- Coal Kills Jobs - Despite coal industry claims that coal mining creates jobs, coal mining employment has been declining for decades, due to increased use of machinery.
- Burning Coal Emits Mercury - Coal-fired power plants are the largest source of human-generated mercury pollution in the U.S.
- Burning Coal is Fuel for Global Warming - The U.S. produces about 25 percent of global carbon dioxide emissions from burning fossil fuels.
- Coal Kills Miners - The Center for Disease Control estimates that 12,000 coal miners died from black lung disease between 1992 and 2002.
- Coal Wastes Huge Quantities of Water - Coal mining requires an estimated 70 to 260 million gallons of water every day.
- Coal Pollutes Fish - Forty-nine U.S. states have issued fish consumption advisories due to high mercury concentrations in freshwater bodies throughout the country.
- Coal Destroys Mountains - Instead of traditional mining, many coal companies now use mountaintop removal to extract coal.
- Coal Kills Freshwater Streams - More than 1,200 miles of Appalachian streams have been buried or damaged by mountaintop removal mining.
- Coal Costs Billions in Taxpayer Subsidies - The U.S. government continues to aggressively fund coal-related projects.
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