Coal

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"In 2005, Congress set about finding out just what these external
costs of energy production and use amount to. It requested that the
National Research Council (part of the National Academy of Science)
attempt to place a number on them. On Monday, the NRC released its
report: “Hidden Costs of Energy: Unpriced Consequences of Energy
Production and Use.”

"First, note that the report did not attempt to quantify the damage to
ecosystems and agriculture wrought by climate change. It did not
attempt to quantify the national security costs of securing energy
supplies. It did not attempt to quantify the land-use costs of
biofuels. It didn’t attempt to quantify the costs of mercury
pollution, which as Bill Chameides documents, are substantial. It
didn’t attempt to quantify the impact on taxpayers that subsidies to
the coal industry impose.

"So a huge chunk of costs were written out, meaning the results are
extremely small-c conservative. Nonetheless, the NRC found that hidden
costs amounted to $120 billion in 2005.

"Of that $120 billion, a whopping $62 billion—over half—came from one
source: coal-fired electricity plants."