Aug 7, 2016 2 min read

I was sorry to read that coal workers in Greene County have been laid off, partly as the result of natural gas replacing coal for the generation of electricity.

Were coal not crippled by over-regulation, it is probable that coal, not natural gas, would be the cheaper option. If you tied his legs together and his hands behind his back, basketball star Lebron James would lose in a one-on-one against even me. Similarly, coal is not allowed to compete in a fair and open marketplace with other energy sources; so naturally it will often lose out.

Natural gas should be saved for applications it does especially well, such as heating, cooking, transportation, fertilizers and in the manufacture of fabrics, glass, steel, plastics, paint, and other products. Using it for baseload power generation is a waste when the U.S. has so much high quality coal there for the taking.

Using gas for baseload power generation is like a reverse Midas touch, turning gold into lead.

Tom Harris

Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

Harris is the executive director of the International Climate Science Coalition.