The Decline of Coal Power in Every State, Visualized

Coal has been on the decline for more than a decade in America. But in some states it's fading faster than others.

For more than a decade, pundits have claimed that “coal is dead” in America. But last year, coal burned in the United States was responsible for nearly a billion tons of carbon-dioxide (CO2) emissions, about 19% of the country’s total. If America’s coal-fired power plants formed a country, they’d rank 5th globally in total CO2 emissions just behind Japan and far ahead of Germany. 

Coal in America is still very much alive. 

But there’s no doubt that this dirty source of power is on the decline. At its peak in 2007, America’s coal power plants were responsible for about half of the country’s electricity generation. Last year, coal was responsible for about 20% of power generation. 

The United States is a country of multitudes though, and the decline in coal generation has been far from uniform. To look at the country’s coal power generation or emissions in aggregate is to miss the full picture of what’s happening. 

As shown in the charts below, the speed and scale of coal’s decline has varied widely from state to state.

Reading this on a phone? Click this link to view larger versions of the charts below.

Source: EIA

Looking at this data a few things stand out to me.