How Much Energy Does the US Use?

An animated guide to the different energy sources that power our nation.


This story first appeared on the Atlantic website and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration.

We all know the U.S. consumes a massive amount of energy but it’s hard to wrap your head around the numbers. How much do we rely on oil? Do renewable resources make up a significant portion of our energy use? In the two-minute video above, Alexis Madrigal, The Atlantic‘s senior technology editor, walks through the key energy sources we depend on, from coal to wind and beyond. The facts and figures come to life with animation by Lindsey Testolin, a San Francisco-based artist.

This episode kicks off a six-part video series—a component of The User’s Guide to Energy special report. Don’t miss Madrigal’s introduction to the project and see Kyle Thetford’sThe US Energy Picture” for a more in-depth look at how the landscape is changing.

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We need to start raising significantly more in donations from our online community of readers, especially from those who read Mother Jones regularly but have never decided to pitch in because you figured others always will. We also need long-time and new donors, everyone, to keep showing up for us.

In "It's Not a Crisis. This Is the New Normal," we explain, as matter-of-factly as we can, what exactly our finances look like, how brutal it is to sustain quality journalism right now, what makes Mother Jones different than most of the news out there, and why support from readers is the only thing that keeps us going. Despite the challenges, we're optimistic we can increase the share of online readers who decide to donate—starting with hitting an ambitious $300,000 goal in just three weeks to make sure we can finish our fiscal year break-even in the coming months.

Please learn more about how Mother Jones works and our 47-year history of doing nonprofit journalism that you don't find elsewhere—and help us do it with a donation if you can. We've already cut expenses and hitting our online goal is critical right now.

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