Coal heat for any purpose, but especially for electric generation, is as dirty as can be. The ash slurry ponds frequently overflow, killing all life in rivers and making municipal water supplies undrinkable. China is switching to wind and solar power at the fastest rate in the world because their air is poisonous from coal burning.

But the main reason coal is being phased out is because of the glut of natural gas we have. Natural gas is also cheaper to ship, is much lower in pollution, and has other advantages compared to coal. Sorry about those coal jobs, but we can at least say good-by to black lung disease and death from suffocation at an early age.