In the first quarter of 2022, Russia's invasion of Ukraine rocked global energy markets raising the price of oil, gas and coal for countries rich and poor. In addition, stumbling blocks still remain for passing meaningful, federal climate legislation in the United States, with Biden's Build Back Better act's climate provisions stalled in the U.S. Congress. India meanwhile faced twin oil and power crises from soaring power demand and the war in Ukraine.
A focus of this issue is the coal sector in the United States in India. While sharing a few characteristics such as geographic patterns and use in electricity, coal in the United States and India is going in different directions. While market forces from cheaper natural gas and renewables have decreased coal use in the United States, surging energy demand has increased India's coal use. This will likely plateau from India's ambitious renewable energy targets and cheaper renewable energy technologies, but without concerted policies to reduce coal use, coal will remain a large part of India's energy mix for the foreseeable future.