Fossil fuel energy sources include natural gas, oil, and coal, which are non-reusable resources that have been formed by plants and animals that have died and were buried gradually by layers of rock. Over the course of millions of years, different forms of fossil fuels were created. These forms were created by the different combination of organic matter, how long it was buried, the temperature oft eh region in which it was buried, and the how the pressure conditions existed as the time passed. The industries that mine for fossil fuel or drill for energy sources. Nearly three quarters of emissions have come from people burning fossil fuels over the past 20 years.
Today, fossil fuel industries drill or mine for these energy sources, burn them to produce electricity, or refine them for use as fuel for heating or transportation (U.S. Department of Energy, retrieved 1/13/2015). Coal, primarily used to generate electricity, is responsible for up to 42 percent of the electric power supplied in the U.S. in 2011 and that figure has dropped by half since 2007. China, which is the global leader in the production of coal, is responsible for almost 50 percent of the world supply. The United States also produces around 14.1 percent of the world’s total with Wyoming, Kentucky, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Texas leading in the production of coal. While coal is used primarily for generating electricity, it is neither the cleanest nor the safest fossil fuel for our environment. Coal