For the first time on record the United States is on course to generate more electricity this year from renewable power than from coal, new government forecasts show.
The shift stems partly from the unique circumstances of the coronavirus pandemic but also reflects longer-term changes that are reshaping American energy consumption, with profound consequences for the fight against climate change.
Projections suggest that even taking into account a potential modest rebound for coal production next year and President Trump's three-year effort to resuscitate the ailing coal industry by weakening pollution regulations, the transition away from the dirtiest of all fossil fuels is likely to continue.
A decade ago coal's supremacy in the US was such that it provided nearly half of the nation’s electricity.
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