Climate of Our Future

Climate Crisis Coalition 

U.S Coal Exports are Surging. By Clifford Krauss, NYTimes, March 19, 2008. “A vast reorganization of the global coal trade… is making the United States a major exporter for the first time in years — and helping to drive up domestic prices of the one fossil fuel the nation has in abundance. Coal has long been a cheap and plentiful fuel source for utilities and their customers, helping to keep American electric bills relatively low. But rising worldwide demand is turning American coal into another hot global commodity, with domestic buyers having to compete with buyers from countries like Germany and Japan… Many environmental groups see the rising global trade as an ominous development, however, since it promises to confound efforts to limit global emissions. World consumption of coal has increased in recent years by more than 4 percent annually; a major reason that emissions of carbon dioxide are going up, not down… The United States will export 7 or 8 percent of its coal production this year, up from about 5 percent last year. U.S. exports of coal grew from 49 million tons in 2006 to about nearly 59 million tons in 2007, according to coal industry statistics, while domestic production increased by 1 percent. Coal executives say they expect exports to reach 80 million tons this year, and with railroad and port improvements, to rise to as much as 120 million tons in the next few years.”