"Coal's future as a major energy source is being undermined by market forces, government regulations and moral arguments."

"If coal were a medical patient, its prognosis would be creeping toward the critical list.

Despite the major forces trying to align to save it, coal's future as a major energy source is being attacked by a variety of pathogens: government regulations, market forces and moral arguments. As a result, government charts plotting coal's life expectancy look like the flat vital signs of a very sick patient.

Those charts don't even take into account President Obama's regulation to crack down on carbon emissions from the nation's nearly 600 coal-fired power plants, which will no doubt send the vital signs plunging."

John H. Cushman Jr. reports for InsideClimate News May 18, 2015, in the first part of a series, "Coal's Long Goodbye." [2]