--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Coal is responsible for as much…" description: "\"Coal is responsible for as much atmospheric carbon dioxide as other fossil fuels combined and it still has far greater reserves. We must stop using it...." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/54f/james-hansen-7143_carbon_coal-is-responsible-for-as-much-atmosphe_2013896.jpg" --- # Coal is responsible for as much atmospheric carbon dioxide… ![“Coal is responsible for as much atmospheric carbon dioxide as other fossil fuels combined and it still has far greater reserves. We must stop using it.” quote by James Hansen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/54f/james-hansen-7143_carbon_coal-is-responsible-for-as-much-atmosphe_2013896.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/54f/james-hansen-7143_carbon_coal-is-responsible-for-as-much-atmosphe_2013896.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/54f/james-hansen-7143_carbon_coal-is-responsible-for-as-much-atmosphe_2013896.jpg) > “Coal is responsible for as much atmospheric carbon dioxide as other fossil fuels combined and it still has far greater reserves. We must stop using it.” [James Hansen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-hansen/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Coal contributes as much CO2 as all other fossil fuels combined and has massive reserves, so its use must end to mitigate climate change. **In simple terms:** Coal is a major carbon source and must be phased out. Key Takeaway Support renewable energy transition. Themes environment energy policy climate change Mood urgent concerned Type political scientific When to use this quote - government policy - industrial planning - public advocacy Key Concepts sustainability energy economics Questions to Reflect On - How can societies shift from coal? - What alternatives are viable now? A Different Perspective Transition may face economic resistance. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Carbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/carbon/) [Carbon dioxide](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/carbon-dioxide/) [Climate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/climate/) [Coal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/coal/) [Coal Responsible](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/coal-responsible-3611997/) [Combined](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/combined/) [Far](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/far/) [Fossil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fossil/) [Fossil fuel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fossil-fuel/) [Fossil fuels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fossil-fuels/) [Fuels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fuels/) [Greater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/greater/) [Much](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/much/) [Must](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/must/) [Other](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/other/) [Reserves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reserves/) [Responsible](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/responsible/) [Still](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/still/) [Stop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stop/) [Using](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/using/) ## Related quotes > [You can't turn on your television without seeing these advertisements about clean coal, clean tar sands and the claim that there's more jobs associated…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-hansen/you-can-t-turn-on-your-television-without-seeing-these-advertisements/) [James Hansen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-hansen/) > [Fossil fuels, including oil, are running out and supplies are getting harder to find. If we do nothing, prices will continue to rise and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucy-powell/fossil-fuels-including-oil-are-running-out-and-supplies-are-getting/) [Lucy Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucy-powell/) > [Here's what we should be doing. We've got to get off fossil fuels.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lee-iacocca/here-s-what-we-should-be-doing-we-ve-got-to-get-off-fossil-fuels/) [Lee Iacocca](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lee-iacocca/) > [The truth is, natural organisms have managed to do everything we want to do without guzzling fossil fuels, polluting the planet or mortgaging the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janine-benyus/the-truth-is-natural-organisms-have-managed-to-do-everything-we-want/) [Janine Benyus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janine-benyus/) > [The source of all the energy is the sun. The big challenge is, how do you use all of that energy? Solar power has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-p-shultz/the-source-of-all-the-energy-is-the-sun-the-big-challenge-is-how-do/) [George P. Shultz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-p-shultz/) > [One SF prediction that I would like very much to see: Get solar collectors launched to beam energy back home, and get away from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-mcdevitt/one-sf-prediction-that-i-would-like-very-much-to-see-get-solar/) [Jack McDevitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-mcdevitt/) > [The popular notion is that Americans are addicted to fossil fuels, but I find that's not true; most people would be happy to power…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/the-popular-notion-is-that-americans-are-addicted-to-fossil-fuels-but/) [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) > [Despite all the progress climate scientists have made in understanding the risks we run by loading the atmosphere with CO2, the world is still…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-goodell/despite-all-the-progress-climate-scientists-have-made-in/) [Jeff Goodell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-goodell/) > [It is very possible to have lives that are just as prosperous, and nicer, that use 5 percent of the fossil fuels and virgin…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-steffen/it-is-very-possible-to-have-lives-that-are-just-as-prosperous-and/) [Alex Steffen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-steffen/) > [The idea that human beings have changed and are changing the basic climate system of the Earth through their industrial activities and burning of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-johnson/the-idea-that-human-beings-have-changed-and-are-changing-the-basic/) [Paul Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-johnson/) > [“We need to stop using fossil fuels as soon as possible. Unfortunately, the two leading replacements of wind and solar have emerging health and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-magee/we-need-to-stop-using-fossil-fuels-as-soon-as-possible-unfortunately/) [Steven Magee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-magee/) > [I said that if an alien came to visit, I'd be embarrassed to tell them that we fight wars to pull fossil fuels out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/i-said-that-if-an-alien-came-to-visit-i-d-be-embarrassed-to-tell-them/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [There's a lot of wishful thinking that somehow we'll replace fossil fuels with alternative energy sources, but they remain far from reality. We're not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-howard-kunstler/there-s-a-lot-of-wishful-thinking-that-somehow-we-ll-replace-fossil/) [James Howard Kunstler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-howard-kunstler/) > [We all know that we have to get off of fossil fuels. And we know that the world is going in that direction. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josh-fox/we-all-know-that-we-have-to-get-off-of-fossil-fuels-and-we-know-that/) [Josh Fox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josh-fox/) > [By burning fossil fuels, we are already dumping 30 billion tons of CO2 into the atmosphere every year, which has a profound effect on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-goodell/by-burning-fossil-fuels-we-are-already-dumping-30-billion-tons-of-co2/) [Jeff Goodell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-goodell/) ## More by James Hansen > [Talking nice about sun and wind and green jobs is just greenwash.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-hansen/talking-nice-about-sun-and-wind-and-green-jobs-is-just-greenwash/) [James Hansen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-hansen/) > [What is frustrating people, me included, is that democratic action affects elections but what we get then from political leaders is greenwash.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-hansen/what-is-frustrating-people-me-included-is-that-democratic-action/) [James Hansen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-hansen/) > [The five-year mean global temperature has been flat for the last decade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-hansen/the-five-year-mean-global-temperature-has-been-flat-for-the-last/) [James Hansen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-hansen/) > [What makes tar sands particularly odious is that the energy you get out in the end, per unit carbon dioxide, is poor. It's equivalent…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-hansen/what-makes-tar-sands-particularly-odious-is-that-the-energy-you-get/) [James Hansen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-hansen/) > [We are on the precipice of climate system tipping points beyond which there is no redemption.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-hansen/we-are-on-the-precipice-of-climate-system-tipping-points-beyond-which/) [James Hansen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-hansen/) > [Jail threats did not dissuade Martin Luther King - and intergenerational justice is a moral issue of comparable magnitude to civil rights.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-hansen/jail-threats-did-not-dissuade-martin-luther-king-and/) [James Hansen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-hansen/) > [The United States did not sign Kyoto, yet its emissions are not that different from the countries that did sign it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-hansen/the-united-states-did-not-sign-kyoto-yet-its-emissions-are-not-that/) [James Hansen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-hansen/) > [The five-year mean global temperature has been flat for the last decade, which we interpret as a combination of natural variability and a slow…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-hansen/the-five-year-mean-global-temperature-has-been-flat-for-the-last-2/) [James Hansen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-hansen/) > [Rising carbon price is essential to 'decarbonize' the economy - to remove the nation towards the era beyond fossil fuels.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-hansen/rising-carbon-price-is-essential-to-decarbonize-the-economy-to-remove/) [James Hansen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-hansen/) > [Policy decisions on climate change are being deliberated every day by those without full knowledge of the science, and often with intentional misinformation spawned…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-hansen/policy-decisions-on-climate-change-are-being-deliberated-every-day-by/) [James Hansen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-hansen/) > [ Imagine a giant asteroid on a direct collision course with Earth. That is the equivalent of what we face now \[with climate change\], yet… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-hansen/imagine-a-giant-asteroid-on-a-direct-collision-course-with-earth-that/) [James Hansen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-hansen/) > [The most difficult task, phase-out over the next 20-25 years of coal use that does not capture COâ‚‚, is Herculean, yet feasible when compared…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-hansen/the-most-difficult-task-phase-out-over-the-next-20-25-years-of-coal/) [James Hansen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-hansen/) > [As species are exterminated by shifting climate zones, ecosystems can collapse, destroying more species.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-hansen/as-species-are-exterminated-by-shifting-climate-zones-ecosystems-can/) [James Hansen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-hansen/) > [I think we have a very brief window of opportunity to deal with climate change... no longer than a decade, at the most.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-hansen/i-think-we-have-a-very-brief-window-of-opportunity-to-deal-with/) [James Hansen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-hansen/) > [The climate system is being pushed hard enough that change will become obvious to the man in the street in the next decade.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-hansen/the-climate-system-is-being-pushed-hard-enough-that-change-will/) [James Hansen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-hansen/) [Explore all 94 James Hansen quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-hansen/) ## More Carbon quotes > [Windmills and solar cells are carbon-free sources of electricity. But they are costly. If you've been investing in those, give it up. That game…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-fisher/windmills-and-solar-cells-are-carbon-free-sources-of-electricity-but/) [Kenneth Fisher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-fisher/) > [every being is unique.god neva creates carbon copies,he alys creates originals.he is truly a creator.he neva repeats.but man goes on living in imitation.we are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/every-being-is-unique-god-neva-creates-carbon-copies-he-alys-creates/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The brightest and most valuable diamond started life as just a lump of carbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-dilger/the-brightest-and-most-valuable-diamond-started-life-as-just-a-lump/) [Peter Dilger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-dilger/) > [Washington bureaucrats have classified the very air we exhale as a pollutant and have gone unchallenged in this incredible assertion. The logical consequence is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-paul/washington-bureaucrats-have-classified-the-very-air-we-exhale-as-a/) [Ron Paul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-paul/) > [I love being a carbon molecule.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/duncan-trussell/i-love-being-a-carbon-molecule/) [Duncan Trussell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/duncan-trussell/) > [Coal is the moral choice, particularly for the developing world... The model for the world right now should be Australia. Australia gets it. Scientifically…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marc-morano/coal-is-the-moral-choice-particularly-for-the-developing-world-the/) [Marc Morano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marc-morano/) > [Each year we pump at least six billion tons of heat-trapping carbon into the innermost layer of our atmosphere, whose outer extent is only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ross-gelbspan/each-year-we-pump-at-least-six-billion-tons-of-heat-trapping-carbon/) [Ross Gelbspan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ross-gelbspan/) > [If every country committed to spending 0.05 per cent of GDP on researching non-carbon-emitting energy technologies, that would cost $25 billion a year, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bjorn-lomborg/if-every-country-committed-to-spending-0-05-per-cent-of-gdp-on/) [Bjorn Lomborg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bjorn-lomborg/) > [We're full of electricity, and the walls and floor of a building contain carbon - the same makeup as a video tape - and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-james/we-re-full-of-electricity-and-the-walls-and-floor-of-a-building/) [Peter James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-james/) > [Whether carbon dioxide is quite the environmental villain that some people make it out to be is not yet proven.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-abbott/whether-carbon-dioxide-is-quite-the-environmental-villain-that-some/) [Tony Abbott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-abbott/) > [“Steven Apfelbaum, a restoration ecologist in Wisconsin, says that every 1 percent increase in soil carbon holds an additional sixty thousand gallons of water…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-d-schwartz/steven-apfelbaum-a-restoration-ecologist-in-wisconsin-says-that-every/) [Judith D. Schwartz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-d-schwartz/) > [I want to break up the Wall Street banks. Hillary Clinton doesn't. I want to raise the minimum wage to 15 bucks an hour.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernie-sanders/i-want-to-break-up-the-wall-street-banks-hillary-clinton-doesn-t-i/) [Bernie Sanders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernie-sanders/) > [I also think that if you want to put a price on carbon, why not just do it with a simple tax? 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That freaks people out.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-skiba/jesus-was-not-born-on-december-25th-there-s-carbon-evidence-of-it/) [Matt Skiba](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-skiba/) [Browse all 812 Carbon quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/carbon/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Coal is responsible for as much atmospheric carbon dioxide as other fossil fuels combined and it still has far greater reserves. 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