What’s that thing charging your smartphone? It’s not just a plug in your wall.  It’s the electricity generated from the 20 pounds of coal each American burns through every single day. Half of our country’s power comes from coal— the fossilized remains of dead plants and animals buried some 300 million years ago.

But when coal is mined, it puts toxins in the water and soil, and destroys miles of mountains in Southern Appalachia. When coal is burned it puts mercury in our lakes and rivers, causes asthma attacks in children, and is the top contributor to Global Warming. If we continue to rely on this 'ancient buried sunlight' for much longer, we may end up cooking our own planet.

Blackout leaves no dirty rock unturned. From pro-coal Washington insiders like Senator Lamar Alexander, to those waging war against the industry at Greenpeace, to those directly affected by the destructive force of coal’s toxins, to the world’s leading think tanks and scientists that are paving a new road to energy production, Blackout will change the way you think about the true price of power.