Watch now: Severe weather threat returns to Nebraska Thursday

Scattered storms are expected during the afternoon and evening hours in central and eastern Nebraska. Once again, some could produce damaging wind and hail. Full details in our updated forecast video.

The states most dependent on coal for electricity

States Most Dependent on Coal for Electricity

Photo Credit: I. Noyan Yilmaz / Shutterstock

At the recent UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, world leaders convened to reduce carbon emissions in the effort to slow the pace of global warming. Across two weeks of discussion, one of the major issues under discussion was the use of coal as the energy source. Some coal-dependent nations including India and China claimed for a “phase down” rather than a total “coalition” in the final agreement, while US envoy John Kerry predicted in an interview that the US would eliminate coal by 2030.

Coal is one of the cheapest energy sources available in the US, in part because of the US houses and a large portion of the world’s coal reserves. But coal also has other environmental and social downsides that have made it less desirable fuel source. Mining and burning coal heavily emits greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide and methane and also poses risks of air and water pollution. Many policymakers and environmental advocates are now pushing for a transition away from coal for that reason.

Until recently, however, the coal has been dominated by the United States, accounting for more than half of electricity generation in the US up to 2003. Since then, % of total US generation. The swift decline in coal has made it possible for other cleaner energy sources to become less expensive. Natural gas has seen a major boom over the last two decades as techniques such as hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling have made it easier to extract. Renewable sources like wind and solar have also become less expensive and more widely adopted in recent years thanks to government investment and technological advances. As a result, the share of electricity generated by renewables has risen by two-thirds since 1990.

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US dependence on coal is plummeting with the rise of renewables

West Virginia is most dependent on coal for electricity

15. Arkansas

14. Kansas

13. Colorado

12. Montana

11. Ohio

10. New Mexico

9. Wisconsin

8. Nebraska

7. Indiana

6. North Dakota

5. Utah

4. Kentucky

3. Missouri

2. Wyoming

1. West Virginia

Matt Holiner covers weather and climate across the Midwest. Matt has eight years of professional meteorology experience and has forecast all kinds of weather for cities across the country. He holds the National Weather Association’s Seal of Approval.

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