by the Sierra Club

About the author: The Sierra Club is an environmental group with over seven hundred thousand members that works to protect the natural and human environment.

We all use electricity in our daily lives, almost without thinking about it— turning on the lights, listening to the radio, and using computers. If we stopped and learned about the energy we use, we would encounter some shocking realities about the impacts of the energy production process on the environment and our health.

Reliance on Coal Generates Pollution

With all the amazing technological advancements over the last century, one thing that has not changed very much is our reliance on fossil fuels, in particular, dirty coal to generate electricity. In the U.S. today, coal is the number one source of electricity produced (54%), followed by...