It is also the most serious contributor to acid rain.
https://www.gem.wiki/Sulfur_dioxide_and_coal
The EPA estimates that more than 65%, or over 13 million tons per year, of SO2 production in the U.S. comes from electric utilities, 93 percent of which is produced by coal power plants.
“Miners with black lung disease, meanwhile, have had to the Trump administration’s move to roll back safety protections for the coal industry…”
From OSMRE website:
Each year, OSMRE transfers more than $1 billion to the United Mine Workers of America Health and Retirement Funds to support health care and pension benefits for eligible coal miners and their beneficiaries.
The US spends billions every year subsidizing coal and paying for the toll it takes on coal workers’ health. And yet, the MAGA folks I know seem to be more supportive of coal than they were 5 years ago. Like a lot more.
I don’t get how this plays in MAGA favor when the coal miners themselves are getting shafted and when coal energy represents a complete and total grift - exactly the same type of stuff that had these same folks so excited about Trump and Musk cutting government programs. Any argument for coal falls apart immediately because natural gas is better in almost every way.
Why are these “coalfare kings” getting away with it?
Ironic that Pakistan provided so much funding to the Taliban over the years only to one day see themselves fighting the Taliban. A familiar story…
Sounds like there will be more to come in this conflict. I really don’t see what Pakistani leadership hopes to solve long term by repeating mistakes of other countries (carrying out imprecise strikes with complete disregard for collateral damage) which led to intractable conflict rather than solutions in Afghanistan in the past.