This video was made in partnership with Bill Gates. To learn more about his work on clean energy, visit https://gatesnot.es/2X0Nxzv

Although coal is such an amazing energy source that we've kept using it despite the harm it causes, today we may be better poised to stop using it than at any previous time in history.

Thanks also to our Patreon patrons https://www.patreon.com/MinuteEarth and our YouTube members.

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If you liked this week’s video, you might also like: See How the World’s Most Polluted Air Compares With Your City’s - https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/12/02/climate/air-pollution-compare-ar-ul.html

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Credits (and Twitter handles): Script Writer and Narrator: Alex Reich (@alexhreich) Video Illustrator and Director: Ever Salazar (@eversalazar) Video Co-Illustrator: Arcadi Garcia Rius (@garirius) With Contributions From: Henry Reich, Kate Yoshida, Peter Reich, David Goldenberg, Julián Gómez, Sarah Berman Music by: Nathaniel Schroeder: http://www.soundcloud.com/drschroeder

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References:

Caldeira, K. Personal communication, Feb 2020

Coady, D. et al. 2015. How Large Are Global Energy Subsidies? https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/WP/Issues/2016/12/31/How-Large-Are-Global-Energy-Subsidies-42940

Farrow, A., Miller, K.A. & Myllyvirta, L. February 2020. Toxic air: The price of fossil fuels. Seoul: Greenpeace Southeast Asia. 44 pp. https://storage.googleapis.com/planet4-southeastasia-stateless/2020/02/21b480fa-toxic-air-report-110220.pdf

Freese, B. 2016. Coal: A Human History. Basic Books

Freese, B. Personal communication, Feb 2020

IEA. 2019. Coal 2019. Paris. https://www.iea.org/reports/coal-2019

IEA. 2019. Global Energy & CO2 Status Report 2019. Paris. https://www.iea.org/reports/global-energy-co2-status-report-2019

Jaffe, E. 17 September 2015. The Enormous Social Cost of Cheap Coal. https://www.citylab.com/environment/2015/09/the-enormous-social-cost-of-cheap-coal/405730/

Ramani, R.V. & Evans, M.A. "Coal Mining." https://www.britannica.com/technology/coal-mining Accessed Dec 2019

Pompeu, N.B. 14 Feb 2019. Air Pollution and the Health Cost of Coal. https://www.iisd.org/gsi/subsidy-watch-blog/air-pollution-and-health-cost-coal

Union of Concerned Scientists. 15 July 2006. A Short History of Energy. https://www.ucsusa.org/resources/short-history-energy

US EIA. "Coal explained: Coal and the environment." https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/coal/coal-and-the-environment.php Accessed Dec 2019

Wikipedia. “Coal.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coal Accessed Dec 2019

Wikipedia. “History of coal mining.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_coal_mining Accessed Dec 2019

World Coal Association. "Where is coal found?” https://www.worldcoal.org/coal/where-coal-found Accessed Feb 2020

https://ourworldindata.org/uploads/2020/02/Safest-source-of-energy-2048x1942.png https://www.lazard.com/media/451086/lazards-levelized-cost-of-energy-version-130-vf.pdf https://www.irena.org/costs/Power-Generation-Costs/Hydropower