Air pollution: Burning coal causes smog, soot, acid rain, global warming, and toxic air emissions. Click on its photo to learn more.

Wastes generated: Ash, sludge, toxic chemicals, and waste heat create more environmental problems. Click on its photo to learn more.

Fuel supply: Mining, transporting, and storing coal levels mountains and pollutes the land, water, and air. Click on its photo to learn more.

Water use: Coal plants need billions of gallons of cooling water and harm wildlife. Click on its photo to learn more.

  
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A typical (500 megawatt) coal plant burns 1.4 million tons of coal each year. There are about 600 U.S. coal plants.

Coal pollutes when it is mined, transported to the power plant, stored, and burned. Click on the pictures above left to see more about the kinds of environmental damage caused by coal.

Power plant photo credit: Warren Gretz, DOE/NREL