Beyond Coal’s War on the World’s Dominant Fuel

By Siddharth Singh,

Politico hosts a very interesting read on the “War on Coal” in the United States by a campaign called Beyond Coal. This campaign is managed by the Sierra Club, an environmental organisation that was founded in 1892.

Over 47% of the power generated globally is from coal, far more than any other source. The IEA projects (World Energy Outlook 2014) that coal will continue to be the dominant fuel in electricity generation at least until 2040 (unless nuclear power is given a push, in which case coal will still dominate the mix until 2030). Indeed, the fuel powers the global economy at large. The industry itself employs millions globally. However, coal is also a key contributor to greenhouse gas emissions, and results in significant health impacts to populations that live around coal fired power plants. The importance of weaning away from this (relatively cheap and abundant) source of electricity cannot be overstated.

In this context, the Beyond Coal campaign has relevance. Here are a few interesting excerpts from the Politico article:

With a vast war chest donated by Michael Bloomberg, unlikely allies from the business world, and a strategy that relies more on economics than ecology, its team of nearly 200 litigators and organizers has won battles in the Midwestern and Appalachian coal belts, in the reddest of red states, in almost every state that burns coal. (…)

Obama has been an ally in the war on coal — not always as aggressive an ally as the industry claims — the Sierra Club is in the trenches. (…) The U.S. had 523 coal-fired power plants when Beyond Coal began targeting them; just last week, it celebrated the 190th retirement of its campaign (…)

(Beyond Coal) sometimes deploys its 2.4 million-member, grass-roots army to shutter plants with traditional not-in-my-back-yard organizing and right-to-breathe agitating. But it usually wins by arguing that ditching coal will save ratepayers money. (…)

“They’re not burning bras. They’re fighting dollar to dollar,” says attorney Jim Roth, who represented a group of hospitals on Beyond Coal’s side in the Oklahoma case. “They’ve become masters at bringing financial arguments to environmental questions.” (…)

The Clean Air Task Force estimate of coal-fired premature deaths is down to about 7,500 a year, a decrease of 5,500 since Beyond Coal went national. And Bloomberg’s early support has helped attract more than $100 million from top foundations and wealthy individuals like the Silicon Valley billionaire Tom Steyer, the climate movement’s top political donor.

And they don’t plan to stop there. When they’re done with coal, natural gas will be next. Beyond Gas?

The full story on Politico is excellent. Do read it.

Siddharth is on Twitter @siddharth3