Coal is already widely used today as energy to produce electricity internationally as well as nationally. Coals contribution is 19 quads, which is merely 8 times all of the nations wind and solar generation combined.

Of all the fossil-fuel sources, coal is the least expensive for its energy content. The original price of coal at its point of origin—of $1.60, compared to $7.30 for natural gas and $16.20 for petroleum.

Why Coal is Better ?

America has plenty of coal. Its mines produced 1.2 billion tons in 2008, nearly all of it destined for electricity generation. The U.S. has nearly 262 billion tons of recoverable coal reserves, according to the Energy Information Administration. That's a 235-year supply at current rates of use.

Coal mining directly employs nearly 134,000 people. For each coal mining job, an additional 3.5 jobs are created elsewhere in the economy.