Climate, Environmental, and Health Impacts of Fossil Fuels

This fact sheet from the Environmental and Energy Study Institute outlines the climate, environmental, and health externalities associated with the fossil fuel supply chain, emphasizing the disproportionate impact on marginalized communities and the significant economic and human costs in the United States.

• Fossil fuels, including coal, oil, and natural gas, generate externalities across their entire supply chain—extraction, transportation, refining, and burning—that are not reflected in market prices. In 2019, these fuels were responsible for 74 percent of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States, with nearly 25 percent of those emissions originating from fuels extracted from public lands.
• Fossil fuel pollution has severe global and national health consequences, causing one in five deaths worldwide. In the United States, 350,000 premature deaths in 2018 were linked to fossil fuel-related pollution, with the highest per capita death rates occurring in West Virginia, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. The estimated annual cost of health impacts from fossil fuel-generated electricity in the U.S. is up to $886.5 billion.
• The health and environmental burdens of fossil fuels disproportionately affect low-income communities and communities of color. Specifically, Hispanic Americans are exposed to 63 percent more particulate matter pollution than they produce, and Black Americans are exposed to 56 percent more. In Louisiana's "Cancer Alley," a predominantly Black and low-income region, the cancer risk is nearly 50 times the national average due to the presence of 150 oil refineries and chemical plants.

APA

Bertrand, S. (2021). Climate, Environmental, and Health Impacts of Fossil Fuels. Environmental and Energy Study Institute. https://www.eesi.org/papers/view/fact-sheet-climate-environmental-and-health-impacts-of-fossil-fuels-2021

Chicago

Bertrand, Savannah. Climate, Environmental, and Health Impacts of Fossil Fuels. Environmental and Energy Study Institute, 2021. https://www.eesi.org/papers/view/fact-sheet-climate-environmental-and-health-impacts-of-fossil-fuels-2021.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Bertrand |first1=Savannah |title=Climate, Environmental, and Health Impacts of Fossil Fuels |publisher=Environmental and Energy Study Institute |date=17 December 2021 |url=https://www.eesi.org/papers/view/fact-sheet-climate-environmental-and-health-impacts-of-fossil-fuels-2021 |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{bertrand2021climate, author = {Bertrand, Savannah}, title = {{Climate, Environmental, and Health Impacts of Fossil Fuels}}, institution = {Environmental and Energy Study Institute}, year = {2021}, month = dec, url = {https://www.eesi.org/papers/view/fact-sheet-climate-environmental-and-health-impacts-of-fossil-fuels-2021}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }