The real reason coal is bad for the environment is because it's impossible to control coal burning.

In the 1960s, the electricity providers of most nations were forced to switch from coal to nuclear by government mandate because coal was bad for the environment.<br><br>In the 1980s, France converted 80% of their electricity to nuclear, and their environment massively thrived because of the lack of coal burning. <br><br>Currently, coal burning is not allowed in most of Europe, the US, or Japan, but many nations in Asia and South America continue to burn coal. <br><br>The reason for this isn't that coal is inherently bad for the environment. In fact, coal contains far less emissions than oil or natural gas. Instead, it's that it's impossible to control the burning of coal. <br><br>Coal is the most abundant mineral resource on the planet. You can go outside your house and just dig in the ground and find coal. In many parts of the world, coal coal is so abundant that it literally just shows up in the dirt. So, anyone can burn coal. <br><br>In contrast, nuclear power requires a massive amount of upfront capital to invest in a nuclear power plant. So, the government can ban the construction of new nuclear power plants and existing ones will eventually be decommissioned after a few decades. But burning coal is something you can do with barely any money.<br><br>This is why the powers that be have pushed so hard to control the global supply of coal. They love coal. When they tell you that coal is bad for the environment, they're talking about the coal that the common man burns. They see this as competition to their own energy production.<br><br>This is why coal is banned in Europe and the US but is available in South America and Asia. The powers that be don't control the governments of those nations.