News
Congressional Office Agrees to Investigate ‘Zombie’ Coal Mines
Kentucky citizens’ law group finds 40 percent of state’s active coal strip mines are “functionally abandoned.”
By James Bruggers
LOUISVILLE, Ky.—With a federal investigation into technically active but non-producing “zombie” mines set to begin in March, a citizens law group in Kentucky has found production idled at nearly 40 percent of all active coal strip mines in the state, with some not mined in more than a de’cade.
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.