There is a lot of information out there on the effects of gasoline and other forms of fuel to produce energy. But what about coal, the most widely used form of fossil fuel in American power companies?

The average household in America consumes around 1,000 kWh of electricity per month (it varies greatly, depending on how many people live in the house, the size of the house, and how much temperature control you are using). But if we took that "average", these are some of the effects on the environment:

1) 172 milligrams of mercury: just 1 milligram of mercury in a 25 acre lake is enough to make all the fish in that lake unfit to eat. This is really toxic stuff. Mercury has been strongly linked to autism, Alzheimer’s and heart disease among other illnesses. And yet power plants are responsible for 61% of all airborne mercury in the U.S., a whopping 41 Million milligrams per year. That’s almost 5,000 milligrams every minute. Just one average coal plant spews out hundreds of pounds – tens of thousands of milligrams – of mercury every year. Just imagine, your contribution for a 1,000 kwH green tag helps save over 4,000 acres of lakes from becoming polluted every year.

2) 67 pounds of nitrogen oxide, which causes smog, air pollution, creates dangerous ground level ozone and has been proven to cause headaches and exacerbate asthma. Cases of asthma in children in the U.S. have tripled in the last 2 decades, and asthma is the leading cause of missed school days in the Northeast.

3) 55 pounds of sulfur dioxide, which causes acid rain and damages entire ecosystems and food supplies.

4) Close to 12 tons of carbon dioxide, the leading global warming gas.

5) And hundreds of pounds of particulate matter, which causes thousands of people to die in the U.S. every year from asthma attacks and upper respiratory illness, and hundreds of millions of dollars in direct healthcare costs.

Not a great picture, right?

So what can we do? Buy Green Tags.

Let's say that 1,000 kWh of clean energy (solar or wind for example), cost $10 more than if they were coming from fossil fuel or a nuclear power plant. Then imagine a "green certificate" that you buy, which pays for the difference and forces the utility company to use that specific amount of energy coming from a renewable, non-polluting source. That's a green tag!

A typical "green tag" is worth 1,000 kWh of energy, which is the average household consumption of energy in the US. Most utility companies in the US offer Green Tag programs, and there are many 3rd party providers. Do at least some research, some of these companies don't quite live up to the ecological claims they make. Fortunately, FPL has a great green tag program, and they are working towards more sun power generation inside the state. This has been made possible thanks to environmental groups that have fought off their plans to build coal plants on the everglades, and because more people are buying these green tags. Let's do our part!