America needs electrical energy. Lots of it. According to U.S. Energy Information Administration, about 20 percent of our electrical power comes from coal-fired plants. Natural gas produces 40 percent of our electricity and nuclear another 20 percent (in round numbers).
The Biden administration just promised the world that he was going to shut down U.S. coal plants. U.S. Special Envoy for Climate John Kerry made the commitment at the COP28 Summit in Dubai although he didn’t specify a time for the shutdowns.
Why are we doing this?
Kerry says, to limit global warming to 1.5 Celsius. He said, “The first step is to stop making the problem worse: stop building new unabated coal power plants.”
FYI: While we’re reducing our power plants, China is building new coal plants to supply electrical energy to its manufacturing of EV batteries.