Climate, Environmental, and Health Impacts of Fossil Fuels

The document outlines the externalities of fossil fuels, noting that they accounted for 74% of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions in 2019. It highlights severe health consequences, including 350,000 premature deaths in the U.S. in 2018, and emphasizes that these impacts disproportionately affect low-income communities and communities of color, specifically citing high cancer risks in Louisiana's "Cancer Alley."

• Fossil fuels are a primary driver of climate change, accounting for 74 percent of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States in 2019, with nearly 25 percent of those emissions originating from fuels extracted from public lands.
• Fossil fuel pollution has severe global and domestic health impacts, causing one in five deaths worldwide. In the U.S., 350,000 premature deaths were attributed to this pollution in 2018, with the highest per capita death rates in West Virginia, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. The annual health cost of fossil fuel-generated electricity in the U.S. is estimated at up to $886.5 billion.
• Environmental and health burdens of fossil fuels fall disproportionately on low-income communities and communities of color. Hispanic and Black Americans are exposed to 63 percent and 56 percent more particulate matter pollution, respectively, than they produce. In Louisiana's "Cancer Alley," a predominantly Black and low-income area, 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} }