Tag Archives: COAL ON THE DESCENT

American coal A burning issue Tighter regulation, bountiful natural gas and declining installation costs for renewable energy herald the end of America’s coal era Jan 28th 2012 | HARLAN COUNTY, KENTUCKY | from the print edition A FREIGHT train, its dozen cars loaded with coal covered in a light dusting of snow, snaked through the narrow valley, sometimes following the two-lane highway and sometimes crossing it. The valley was silent and snowy, and though it was two days into 2012 it could easily have been 1982, 1942 or 1922: coal has been mined in Appalachia and carried out by rail … more…