Bloomberg's anti-coal campaign criticized
Michael Bloomberg, the former mayor of New York City, has come under fire from the coal industry over his plan to donate $500 million to help shut every coal power plant in the United States by 2030.
Bloomberg announced his campaign, Beyond Carbon, in a commencement address at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology on Friday. The billionaire's investment in the initiative marks the largest ever philanthropic effort to combat climate change, according to his foundation.
His aim is to eliminate all remaining coal plants and will bypass the federal government and instead seek to pass climate and clean energy policies, as well as back political candidates at the state and local level. He said he hoped that the coal plants will be replaced with renewable energy sources.