Acid rain is on track to make the lakes and ponds of the Adirondacks devoid of life by 2040. Acid rain legislation has had other unintended environmental consequences, including a hunt for low-sulfur coal that has resulted in massive strip mining near World Heritage Sites in Canada, mountaintop removal in West Virginia and the uprooting of indigenous peoples from Australia to Arizona. One step the institute recommends is the reduction, or elimination, of the subsidies that encourage its use in some countries. China has more than halved its coal subsidy rates since 1984, a move which contributed to a 5.2 percent drop in Chinese coal consumption in 1998. Belgium, France, Japan, Spain and the United Kingdom have collectively halved coal use since slashing or ending coal supports over the last 15 years.
Opportunities exist for further reductions.
Coal is, however, a dominant player all over the world. In industrial nations, the United States and Denmark still depend on coal for 53 and 74 percent of electricity. South Africa and China are the most coal-reliant developing countries, with 78 and 73 percent shares of coal in overall energy use. For a coal phase out to succeed, the institute recommends a fair transition for affected workers. To minimize the dislocation of workers, the institute recommends following the lead of governments in China and the United Kingdom who have located solar cell manufacturing sites near abandoned coal mines.