Coal Consumption Drops

Americans are consuming less coal in 2018 than at any time since 1979, according to a federal report released this week. The U.S. Energy Information Administration projected Tuesday that 2018 would also see the second-greatest number on record of coal-fired power plants shutting down. U.S. coal demand has been falling since 2007 in the face of competition from natural gas and renewable energy like solar and wind power. National gas production in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia has jumped from 2 percent of the nation’s total in 2008 to 27 percent last year.