Climate & Energy: Dirty Energy

U.S. coal-fired power plants pump more than 48 tons of mercury into the air each year

Abruptly unwired, the author absorbs tales of warbles, bear peanuts, and a weird tattoo in the land of 24-hour sun

Even the coal industry's best friends are giving it the bad news: Demand is declining, reserves are vanishing, mountaintop removal is unacceptable, and emissions must be reduced. Slowly, surely, the United States is moving past coal.

Montanans fear coal's residues more than its role in disrupting Earth's climate

The lights of Los Angeles would burn just as bright—except they might have to be LEDs

Wilderness lovers have fought for decades to protect the moose, salmon, and sublime vistas of America's "last frontier" from the ravages of oil development. Now America's coal companies want to leave their earth-scraping marks across the state.

Marisol Becerra, Chicago: Cofounder, Young Activists Organizing as Today's Leaders

Eyes peeled for terrorists, the Coast Guard missed the boat—and San Francisco Bay took an ugly hit

With little hope of success, a scrappy band of activists tried to block a coal plant

Generations have found solace at the end of a rod and reel. Coal is changing that.