U.S. Coal and U.S. Energy Security
FAST FACTS AT A GLANCE
America Runs on Coal
Coal supplies half the electricity consumed by Americans.1
- Surface mining operations provide enough energy to power more than 25 million American homes.2
Each person uses 7,539 pounds of coal annually.3
- A lump of coal is burned every time a book is ordered online.
Coal is affordable.
- Americans pay about 6 cents per kilowatt/hour for electricity generated by coal, among the lowest electricity rates in industrialized nations.4
The U.S. has enough coal to power America for the next 240 years.
- Coal accounts for 90 percent of America’s fossil fuel reserves.
Coal is vital to our national security.
- Coal is the lifeblood of our domestic energy supply.
- Our modern economy depends on reliable electricity.
- Coal allows us to avoid further dependence on other nations for the energy we need to go about our daily lives.
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* The National Mining Association compiles and analyzes data from a variety of official sources, including the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), U.S. Department of Energy Energy Information Administration (EIA), and the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA), among other U.S. and international agencies.
1 National Mining Association, Fast Facts about Coal. http://nma.org/statistics/fast_facts.asp
2 National Mining Association. Mountaintop Mining Fact Book (p.2). http://www.nma.org/pdf/fact_sheets/mtm.pdf
3 National Mining Association, Fast Facts about Coal. http://nma.org/statistics/fast_facts.asp
4 National Mining Association. Energy Information Administration, March 2008, Cost per kWh & Percent of Coal Generation. http://www.nma.org/pdf/c_map_use_cost_electricity.pdf
