HEALTH AND THE ENVIRONMENT
Market Failure
When looking at the health and environmental costs of coal-generated power, it is important to remember that all of these costs are “externalized”. That means they are not included in the price of coal-fired electricity. Instead they are paid by affected citizens and property owners rather than the producer or consumers of electricity.
If these hidden costs were part of the balance sheet of coal-fired power, we would be paying far more for our electricity than we do today, and it would no longer be competitive. But these costs ARE REAL, and we all pay a great price in terms of health care, productivity, life span, joy, and loss of valuable natural resources like clean water and pristine forests. A truly “free market” would account for these costs, drawing the inevitable conclusion that efficiency and renewable energy is far cheaper than coal. This is discussed further in It Costs Too Much .