Bringing coal plants in-line with federal air quality rules is costing the coal industry billions. But environmentalists say the rules will save lives.
Earlier this month, President Obama released the widely anticipated Clean Power Plan, calling it the single most important step America has ever taken in the fight against climate change.
Layoffs and mine closings are becoming more and more common in parts of West Virginia and Kentucky, where the coal industry is having a hard time competing in a new energy future.
It would take Mother Nature decades—if not centuries—to reforest millions of acres of strip-mined lands across central Appalachia. But researchers are experimenting with ways to jump start that restoration.