9781422285534

43 Chapter Four: The Coal Industry

mining has a special place in the social history of North America, as it does in Europe, Russia, and other regions.

Importing Coal? The United States seems to have so much coal—so why bring it in from elsewhere? But for big coal users on the Gulf Coast and along the southern Atlantic Coast, it can cost less to ship coal from places such as Colombia, where it is also cheaper to produce, than to transport it from mining areas in the United States.

Modern Trends Coal provides almost two-fifths of all energy used in the United States, with over 500 coal- fuelled power plants in operation. The coal industry continues to be both a major employer

and provider of energy and raw materials. The industry is making efforts to lessen coal’s problems by using better pollution control methods, as well as the combined or integrated technologies described in the next chapter. However, the number of workers in the mining and coal industries has fallen, mainly due to automation . Mining is also less widespread, with only four states— Wyoming, West Virginia, Kentucky, and Pennsylvania—providing two-thirds of all US coal. In recent years, the total amount of coal mined has fallen slightly. Meanwhile, the amount of electricity generated by coal has been reduced from almost one-half of the total to about one-third. There are a number of reasons for these trends. One is the awareness that burning any fuels, and especially fossil fuels, is a major cause of pollution and climate change. Coal produces higher amounts of polluting substances than other fuels, such as natural gas. In addition, new environmental laws make it more costly to build and operate coal plants. In 2011, President Barack Obama urged the country to develop more clean energy sources with little or no carbon dioxide pollution; Canada has been following this path for many years. Also, natural gas has recently become much more available due to technologies such as fracking . And the share of energy provided by renewables such as solar, wind, and water is rising. However, the proportion of US coal exported to other regions, mainly Europe and Asia, is rising slowly. The United Kingdom takes the largest share of steam coal, while Brazil imports the most coking coal. Anti-coal campaigners argue that the