Photo Slideshow: A Desperate Clinch — Coal Production Across America

A look at the places and faces affected by coal production in the United States.

Coal production and combustion is responsible for more than half of the nation’s electricity and nearly half of all water withdrawn from rivers, lakes, and aquifers.

From the mine to the power plant, the American coal sector influences the economies and environments of every state. In this slideshow, Circle of Blue provides a riveting view of the industry from the Colorado coal fields, to Great Lakes ore carriers, to power plants in Virginia, to an Indiana community shadowed by a giant coal dust disposal pile.

Photographs by Heather Rousseau, J. Carl Ganter, Sierra Crane-Murdoch and Aaron Jaffe. Original music by Brian Griffith.