News
A Coal Miner Died Early Wednesday at an Alabama Mine With Dozens of Recent Safety Citations
In the past week, the mine was cited for not having proper roof and mine support. The fatality follows a leadership change at the company and a federal lawsuit alleging that leaking methane blew up a home above the mine in March.
By Lee Hedgepeth, James Bruggers
Undermined: Ninth in a series about the impacts of longwall mining in Alabama.
Related Knowledge Center: ENERGY BASICS: coal
State of Play
The use of coal, a staple of heating and electricity-generation for decades, is in decline in the United States — supplanted by newly abundant production of natural gas — but is still dominant in some parts of the world. While economical, coal use is particularly problematic as international attention focuses increasingly on climate change.