Is Coal Dead? Surging Demand, Trump’s Recent Push, and China’s Dominance Say Otherwise
Beautiful, clean coal is far from dustbin of history.
by Tilak Doshi Mar 31, 2025
The death of coal, held to be the eldest and ugliest of the three fossil fuel siblings, has long been exaggerated Mark Twain-style. [emphasis, links added]
While oil and natural gas needed to be tolerated for some time in the “energy transition”, dirty coal — responsible for soot, smog, and respiratory disease — was already beyond the pale for many decades in most Western developed countries.
The latest twist in this tale of a death exaggerated starts with a Guardian story on Monday last week. In his trip to China — the world’s largest coal consumer by far, and with no letup in sight — the UK Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero Ed Miliband “is hoping to shape a new global axis in favour of climate action along with China and developing countries, to counter Donald Trump’s abandonment of green policies in the US.”
https://climatechangedispatch.com/is-coal-dead-surging-demand-trumps-recent-push-and-chinas-dominance-say-otherwise/
