Bloomberg Philanthropies will invest an additional USD $30 million to assist the Sierra Club in its goals to see half the USA’s coal fleet retired by 2017, with view to replacing it with clean energy capacity.
The latest contribution builds on a previous $50 million from Bloomberg Philanthropies, founded by Michael Bloomberg. Mr. Bloomberg is the founder of global data and media company, Bloomberg LP, and was also the 108th Mayor of New York City; holding office for three consecutive terms beginning with his first election in 2001.
Mr. Bloomberg has little sympathy for the coal sector.
“Many of coal’s defenders refer to these efforts as a “war on coal” — without mentioning the actual death toll. Coal is still killing 7,500 people annually,” said Mr. Bloomberg; referring to coal-attributed deaths in the USA.
“That’s 7,500 too many, but it’s down from 13,000 just four years ago, when Bloomberg Philanthropies teamed up with the Sierra Club to set an ambitious goal: retiring one-third of the U.S. coal fleet by 2020.”
The next phase of the Beyond Coal campaign will also see Mr. Bloomberg drum up a matching $30 million from a coalition of funders.
“The single biggest reduction in carbon pollution in the U.S. has come by retiring and repurposing coal-fired power plants – and that’s the direct result of our Beyond Coal campaign.”
According to the Sierra Club, the partnership has already resulted in 187 coal plants retired or announcing their retirement. Dependence on coal has plunged from 52% of US electricity generation to under 40%; avoiding more than 280 million metric tons of carbon emissions from the electricity generation sector.
For every 50 gigawatts of coal taken offline, the Sierra Club says more than 3,600 deaths and 60,000 asthma attacks are prevented, plus USD $2.3 billion in health care costs are saved each year.
In addition to a well-funded war chest, the Sierra Club has massive human clout – 2.4 million members. Founded by conservationist John Muir in 1892, the Sierra Club is the USA’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization; helping pass the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, and Endangered Species Act. The group also played a crucial role in the protection of 250 million acres.
