Coal’s Death By a 90% Emissions Cut

By Willy Blackmore | Word In Black (WIB) – After nearly 200 years of burning coal as a major energy source in the United States — and about a half-century of knowing that it would cause damage to the earth’s climate — the end of the coal era may finally be in sight.  A new Environmental Protection Agency rule could dramatically accelerate the gradual tapering off of American coal-fired power.The rule, announced last week, marks the first time the federal government has regulated carbon emissions from existing power plants. READ MORE: A Whole Lot of Black People Live Near Deadly Coal Plants  The change is especially beneficial for residents of Black and brown communities, who are more likely to live in close proximity to coal-fired plants than their white counterparts.& A& study published late last year& found that there were 460,000 excess deaths attributable to fine-particulate matter pollution from burning coal. Considering how many Black people live close to such power plants, a high proportion of those deaths were also likely among Black communities. While the numbers have shifted over the years as plants have either switched to natural gas or shut down, a 2013 NAACP study found that nearly...