Do we need coal?

Earlier this year, on a conference call with investors, the head of one of the nation's largest coal companies shocked those tuned in with a frank admission. Colin Marshall is CEO of Cloud Peak Energy: “As we look forward, it is clear that the dynamics of the coal industry have permanently changed,” he said. read more

While we don't need coal, we do need reliable and affordable baseload power. This means power that is very reliable and available all the time (See: not solar or wind right now). Baseload has traditionally been served by coal and nuclear plants, because they are pretty good at serving this. read more

We do not have to import this product into this country. Coal can be mined and burned with little environmental impact. There has been tremendous strides in environmental responsibility with mining coal and burning coal. read more

Last year, the U.S. produced about 1 billion tons of coal, and only about 6 percent of it was exported. Most of the coal we export is used for steel production. We do import coal, but our imports only amount to about 2 percent of what is produced domestically. read more