Rainforest Action Network (RAN) reports that 59 proposed coal-fired power plants have been cancelled or shelved in the past year. Both RAN and Coal Moratorium NOW! have been calling for a moratorium on the construction of new coal-fired power plants through education, grass roots organizing and non-violent direct action, such as the National Global Warming Teach-In on January 31, 2008. The organizations are targeting coal because, according to climate scientists like Dr. James Hansen, director of NASA’s Goddard Space Center, coal is the largest contributor to the human-made increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide and therefore the largest global warming threat. He famously told Congress that halting new coal-fired power plant construction is "the most critical action for saving the planet at this time."

RAN's Global Finance Campaign director, Becky Tarbotton, says, “Utilities, regulators, and investors are realizing that the path ahead is energy efficiency and renewable energy. It’s time to stop financing and building coal and to start funding the future.”

Although 59 coal plants were cancelled, 121 are still on the books.