Cost of the Externalities of Fossil Fuels — New Report to be Released on Coal

For those of you trying to wrap your wits around the cost of the externalities of fossil fuels, here’s a report by Dr. Paul Epstein, the Director of Harvard Medical School Center for Health and the Global Environment, who has spent the last 20 years trying to nail this down. He and his 11 co-authors peg the cost of coal at $300 – $500 billion per year in increased healthcare costs and long-term environmental damage.

It will be interesting to see how the coal industry responds. Typically, reports that expose the damage done by Big Energy are met with an immediate spate of ads that feature soothing music, pretty scenery, and assuring voice-overs extolling their virtues – just one of the reasons I try to avoid commercial television wherever possible.