Questioning Coal

How coal form over time (thousands to millions of years).
Image source: http://www.uky.edu/KGS/coal/coalform.htm

This isn't the place where we plan to go to write longest of prolonged discourse/diatribes (we have lots of other places for that)...for the most part.

So here's a Friday blip from us (it's imported from a recent status update on Facebook):

We get that coal is an important resource for energy, but part of the lay-offs over the years in the coal industry (meanwhile under President Obama jobs in coal have increased and returned to 1995 levels and 30% more than 2004*) are due to a several year shift to cleaner and more renewable energy sources. (Coal produced 18% less electricity than natural gas last year, which has produced 30% more)

a) Isn't it better to move towards a clean and renewable energy, in preparation for running out of coal. Rather than try to figure out how we can suck every last drop of natural resources from the earth before we figure out alternatives.

b) Isn't that proof that renewable energy is worth investing in, because it's able to profitably replace coal over time and provide a cleaner environment.

So, coal...

*Source: Coal Emerges as Hot Election Issue, Keith Johnson, The Wall Street Journal, October 17, 2012, http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2012/10/17/coal-emerges-as-hot-election-issue/ (which sources from actual government and coal industry documents.)