Dear EarthTalk: Where do we stand in jettisoning coal as an electricity source?

Before dinosaurs roamed the earth, large plants grew and died in swampy forests. In the eons that followed, layers of rock and dirt covered the plants, and heat and pressure turned them into a substance high in carbon and hydrocarbons: coal. The history of coal mining is a dark tale of child labor, black lung disease and an untold number of miners blown up in mining accidents. Research started in 1980 found that acid rain was caused by burning coal, and thus coal's negative impact on ecosystems became clearer as well. This spurred industries into action and $1 billion was spent on air pollutio...