| By
far, our extensive use (and more often waste) of electricity produces the
largest amount of greenhouse gases of any other category of energy use.
This is because utility companies burn coal, oil, and natural gas to generate
the electricity we use. The United States ranks at the top of the list because
it has a two-fold detrimental effect: 1) U.S. consumers use the most electricity
in the world per person, and 2) most of this electricity (60 percent) is
generated from the most polluting fuel -- coal. |