News
Lawmakers Want Answers on Damage and Costs Linked to Idled ‘Zombie’ Coal Mines
Sen. John Fetterman, the Pennsylvania Democrat, joins a call for a national GAO investigation into a problem that could fall to taxpayers to solve.
By James Bruggers
Lawmakers, including two from Pennsylvania, are asking for a federal investigation into the full extent of environmental damage caused by what are known as “zombie” surface mines, which may technically still be considered active for coal extraction but have been idled for months or years and can leak toxic waste.
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.