The folks at High Country News have put together this fascinating infographic tracking where coal for the country’s dirtiest, most lethal power plants comes from. The graphic only tracks Western coal, which overwhelmingly comes from the Powder River Basin.
This isn’t a surprise: Powder River Basin coal is used for roughly 40% of coal-generated electricity in the U.S., and accounts for 14% of our greenhouse gas emissions. But it is quite interesting to see just how much coal comes from the 10 mines in that area — and what kind of impact it has.
Click on the image to see the full sized graphic.
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