Electric vehicles aren’t rollin’ coal anymore — or, at least, not nearly as much as they used to.
Reutersreports coal-fired electricity generation is now at a 35-year low in the U.S., and November 2015 was the fifth month in a row more natural gas than coal was used to produce electricity.
With just one month of data missing in 2015, some analysts think power companies may have burned more gas than coal for the full year for the first time in history.
Oh, and guess what’s dirtier than natural gas when burned? You bet: gasoline.
The news comes as more and more SUVs and crossovers are making their way to private driveways and plug-in electric vehicles fall out of favor due to low gasoline prices.
Crude oil prices are currently hovering between $30 and $35 per barrel, resulting in sub-$2/gallon gasoline at the pumps.
Meanwhile, sales volume for the Nissan Leaf was nearly halved in 2015. Nissan sold 30,200 Leafs (Leaves?) in 2014. That number dropped to 17,269 units last year.