Ep. 33: The Crux of Coal

Trump on Earth

The whole concept of "clean coal" is wonky. Real technical, real complicated. Not as simple as President Trump would have you believe. But what does the term actually mean? In truth, it can mean a lot of different things. When many people talk about clean coal, they are talking about cleaning up carbon dioxide out of coal emissions. In Wyoming, where the majority of this country’s coal is still mined, clean coal is looked at as a possible economic savior. It’s a big deal for a lot of other people, too. Forty percent of the world still depends on coal for electricity, and it’s still one of the cheapest and most abundant fuels. But CO2 from coal and other fossil fuels is causing global warming. So it would be nice if we didn’t produce so much of it from burning coal. On this episode, Inside Energy’s Madelyn Beck takes us on a 360 degree view of clean coal to answer some of our questions.