Product Description
Long dismissed as a relic of a bygone era, coal is back -- with a vengence. Coal is one of the nation's biggest and most influential industries -- Big Coal provides more than half the electricity consumed by Americans today -- and its dominance is growing, driven by rising oil prices and calls for energy independence. Is coal the solution to America's energy problems?On close examination, the glowing promise of coal quickly turns to ash. Coal mining remains a deadly and environmentally destructive industry. Nearly forty percent of the carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere each year comes from coal-fired power plants. In the last two decades, air pollution from coal plants has killed more than half a million Americans. In this eye-opening call to action, Goodell explains the costs and consequences of America's addiction to coal and discusses how we can kick the habit.

CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 4.5 based on 43 reviews)

Big Coal shows us what really goes on in the coal industry by Luwanna D. Strawser (Guysville, Ohio United States)

5 Stars
February 11, 2010
Jeff Goodell has written a book that should be read by one and all. I participated in a group meeting that interviewed Mr. Goodell and his graciousness and willingness to answer our varied questions was greatly appreciated. His ability to show the human side of this story is amazing. From the train conductors to the coal miners you learn about the path coal takes to make it into your home to run your electrical devices. Jeff Goodell doesn't stop there--he shows the 'dirty' side of coal as well. While the Big Coal industry big wigs get rich and the Appalachian Mountians are destroyed, and the workers advance farther into poverty, the appetite of the American electrical consumer becomes even more ravenous. After reading this book you will look at your home, your behaviour, and the Big Coal industry in a whole different light.

facing our problems by Bruce P. Barten (Saint Paul, MN United States)

5 Stars
April 13, 2009
I like authors who think long and hard about real situations and attempt to examine every angle. Two points that really struck me in BIG COAL were the end of an ice age and the situation of China now. In a period of ten years, parts of the earth once had a change of climate that shifted from a long ice age to temperate conditions. BIG COAL points out that our current ecological systems have benefited from 10,000 years of consistent weather which allowed plants and animals to be all that they can be in ways we are currently familiar with. Some big melting glacier flooding the Atlantic with fresh water might have been the trigger for a sudden warming trend ending a major ice age. We can't really know that something much more drastic is coming up around the next bend. China has the potential to change the global climate all by itself in trying to catch up with the wealth that Europe and America created in the age of high energy usage. Information about tipping points is much easier to spread in American society than in a system which is so much larger that just about anything can get spun out of control, as certain elements in BIG COAL have been successful in putting off certain controls even in America.

Alarmist or Realist? by Reading Fan (Baltimore)

5 Stars
October 24, 2008
Is the earth about ready to ecologically bite the big one via coal-caused global warming, or is this whole thing blown out of proportion? I don't know; but I think we should play it safe and listen to Jeff Goodell. I might not agree with his liberal politics, but I do respect the study he has done on `Big Coal', which is full of fascinating and scary stats and observations. According to Goodell, each American indirectly causes 20 tons of CO2 to spew out into the air each year! Also, the U.S. is known as the `Saudi Arabia of Coal', containing fully a quarter of the earth's coal supply, and consuming over a billion tons a year! Some coal trains are a mile-long! The last nuclear plant went on-line over 30 years ago because of the problem of what to do with nuclear waste. He says the earth's ecology is at the tipping point of some serious global warming because of `Big Coal'. He says that we've already raised the average temperature one degree farenheit and are well on the way to a 3.5 degrees increase which will start a catastrophic series of events in nature that we don't even want to think about. He says that it would overall, society-wide, be cheaper to clean-up the coal emissions rather than pay for the health problems the dirty air causes. The strange thing is that the coal issue is not even talked about very much, probably because most of us are so far removed from coal excavation or plants. Goodell said he had not even seen a piece of coal until he was 41 (presumably while writing this book.). By the way, I used to see coal as a kid because we had a coal furnace, but haven't seen any since. You could see lumps in the street also. All of this reminds me a little of Y2K. Nobody got excited about it until it was almost too late. Then there was a all-out (and successful) effort to avert massive computer problems. Now I think it's time to do something about the coal situation before it is too late. Is Goodell an alarmist or a realist? I hope he's only the former, but fear he is also the latter.

Fills a gap by J. Dykstra (Roswell, NM)

4 Stars
October 04, 2008
There are currently many books out there on peak oil, or energy concerns in general. However, probably not many people have read up on coal which is an old technology that's having a resurgence of sorts. This book does a nice job of filling in the gaps and talking not only about the pollution issues with coal, but also about supply and demand and what the coal industry is like in the US. I was surprised to find out how much power the railroads have, and how poorly-paid and unprotected the coal miners are. The impression I came away with is that the coal industry is a massively powerful voice in our society and is able to use that power to benefit itself, often against the good of the country. We will probably continue to hear more and more talk about clean coal technology in the near future. Anyone who wants to have some decent beginning knowledge of what's behind coal might enjoy reading this book.

Educational by E. Harvey

4 Stars
September 18, 2008
The book gives an all around view of the coal mining industry, it sheds light on the political, social and economical forces that drive the industry. The industry can be seen from the miners, mine executives, land owners, and railroads points of view. Overall an interesting read.

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