coal

7:15am Sep 10, 2019

Environment Environment

As Duke Energy Updates Belews Plant, Concerns Over Coal Ash Remain

by Keri Brown

It's been five months since state regulators ordered Duke Energy to excavate coal ash at six remaining sites across North Carolina. Duke is taking steps to modernize the plant, but for those who live nearby, the action isn't enough.

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Claire Harbage / NPR

11:49am Jul 31, 2019

World News World News Environment

Mongolia's Long Road To Mining Wealth

by Emily Kwong

Mongolia is undergoing a dramatic transformation from a pastoral society to one whose economy is based on mining, especially copper and coal. With the change has come opportunity — and loss.

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Claire Harbage / NPR

3:10pm Jul 30, 2019

World News World News Environment

Mongolia's Capital Banned Coal To Fix Its Pollution Problem. Will It Work?

by Emily Kwong

Winter nights in Ulaanbaatar can drop to minus 20 degrees Fahrenheit. Many residents without electricity burn coal to heat their homes, leading to toxic air and health problems.

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Rizwan Tabassum / AFP/Getty Images

7:01pm Apr 29, 2019

World News World News Economy Environment

Why Is China Placing A Global Bet On Coal?

China has taken dramatic steps to fight climate change, including shutting major coal power plants. But now it plans to build hundreds of coal plants abroad.

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Laurel Morales / KJZZ

5:47pm Apr 07, 2019

National National

On The Navajo Reservation, Turning From Coal To Renewables

by Laurel Morales

The Navajo tribe voted late last month not to purchase the Navajo Generating station, the largest coal-fired power plant in the west. Now renewable energy has become a top priority for the tribe.
Rich-Joseph Facun for NPR

9:44pm Dec 18, 2018

National National Health & Safety

An Epidemic Is Killing Thousands Of Coal Miners. Regulators Could Have Stopped It

More than 2,000 miners in Appalachia are dying from an advanced stage of black lung. NPR and Frontline have found the government had multiple warnings and opportunities to protect them, but didn't.

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VCG via Getty Images

11:37am Dec 18, 2018

Health & Safety Health & Safety

The Good News (And Not So Good News) About China's Smoggy Air

by Katrina Yu

According to a new report, China's war against air pollution shows promising results. But there is evidence of backsliding as winter nears.
Branden Camp / AP

4:54pm Dec 06, 2018

National National Environment

Trump's EPA Plans To Ease Carbon Emissions Rule For New Coal Plants

by Jeff Brady

The Trump administration wants to reverse a rule that would have required new coal plants to have expensive technology to capture their carbon dioxide emissions.
Jesse Wright / West Virginia Public Broadcasting

4:05pm Nov 23, 2018

National National

How A 1968 Disaster In A Coal Mine Changed The Industry

by Molly Born

A mine disaster fifty years ago in West Virginia helped shape a new regulatory framework for the health and safety of coal miners. Surviving family members are still looking for justice.
Martin Meissner / AP

5:23pm Aug 06, 2018

World News World News

Germany Bulldozes Old Villages For Coal Despite Lower Emissions Goals

by Esme Nicholson

Angela Merkel was dubbed Germany's "climate chancellor" for ditching nuclear power. But centuries-old villages are being bulldozed to make way for open-pit brown coal mines.

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Steve Helber / AP

2:43pm May 08, 2018

Politics & Government Politics & Government

Former Coal CEO Turned Senate Hopeful Don Blankenship Says He's 'Trumpier Than Trump'

by Don Gonyea

Blankenship could win West Virginia's GOP Senate primary, despite spending a year in prison after 29 miners died in an explosion at a mine owned by the company he led. Trump isn't backing him.
Timothy D. Easley / AP

5:10pm Mar 28, 2018

National National Politics & Government Health & Safety

Congress Boosts 'Black Lung' Treatment Funding By Millions

by Howard Berkes

After NPR reporting on the Progressive Massive Fibrosis epidemic, Congress and the White House agreed to give the maximum funding authorized for clinics treating the disease in 15 coal-mining states.