The Future of Coal Dims

January 25, 2012

The future of coal was dimmed by two announcements this week.  The first came from the Energy Information Agency announcing that market share of coal in American electric generation is expected to drop below 40% this year.  It was only a few years ago that coal was touted as being almost 50% of US generation.  Since that time the Sierra Club has helped to put an end to the American coal rush through the Beyond Coal campaign by helping put an end to more than 160 proposed coal plants.  The Beyond Coal campaign through the work of America’s greatest volunteers has secured the retired dates of more than 33,00 MW of coal generation, a huge accomplishment.

The Cambridge City Council has taken the next logical step in moving beyond coal.  Councillor Marjorie Decker introduced the Coal Free Cambridge policy order.  Through the leadership of Councilor Decker this order was passed unanimously by the City Council and directs the cities utility, NStar, to declare how much of the electricity delivered to Cambridge’s municipal buildings come from coal, where that coal is mined and directs the utility to replace that portion delivered by coal to be delivered by clean, safe and efficient wind power.

Cambridge, which is the fifth largest city in Massachusetts made the bold decision to join Austin, TX in declaring themselves free from coal.  Coal is an 18th century energy source that does not meet the 21st century's needs of an innovative city like Cambridge.