Natural gas and the environment So much nicer than coal But perhaps no cooler

Aug 6th 2011

IF THE rise of gas means the decline of coal, the environment is one of the winners. Though more research into the damage shale-gas extraction may do to the environment is needed, there is no doubt that the extraction of coal already harms the environment a lot.
It kills a lot of miners, too. In America, a coalminer’s risk of dying on the job is almost twice that of a worker in the oil industry. In China, the world’s largest coal producer, mining fatalities have been dropping quite quickly, especially when calculated per tonne of coal produced, but official figures still put the 2010 number at 2,433.

Continue reading ......