Maps and charts show coal's decline

Through a series of illustrations, Brad Plumer of The Washington Post details how a recent study by the U.S. Energy Information Administration examined the drop in U.S. coal production and forecast a continuation of the trend. "Plant owners and operators are getting ready to retire 27 gigawatts’ worth of coal generation, or about 8.5 percent of the coal fleet, between now and 2016," he reports. (EIA map shows where plants are closing)

Between now and 2020 the U.S. will probably see 17 percent of its coal-fired power plants retired, Plumer reports. Already, cheap natural gas from hydraulic fracturing and stricter rules on air pollution mean "Natural gas is now tied with coal as America’s top source of electricity — with each fuel now providing 32 percent of the nation’s power. . . . This turn of events has helped drive down America’s global-warming emissions, with carbon pollution declining 7.7 percent since 2006," Plumer reports. "That’s a bigger drop than anywhere else in the world." (EIA chart shows generation by source)