Coal Externalities

Components of the "true cost" of coal

The major components of the externalities associated with coal, as calculated by Epstein et al 2011.  The difference between the three cases largely depends on the uncertainty associated with climate change impacts.  The low case represents damages worth $10/ton of CO2-associated damages, the best case represents $30/ton of CO2-associated damages, and the high case represents $100/ton of CO2-associated damages.  The percentages at the top are an average of each of the three cases.

*"Appalachia" refers to the total of various public health impacts associated with mountaintop removal coal mining in that region.

See more detail in our article on the "True Cost of Electricity Generation".