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The Challenges of the U.S. Coal Industry and Lessons for Europe

Published:
From the beginning of the twenty first century economic, social, and political forces have been threatening the historical dominance of coal for power generation. In this context, the UNECE Group of Experts on Coal Mine Methane (CMM) presents you with a new paper titled The Challenges of the U.S. Coal Industry and Lessons for Europe. This joint publication of UNECE and Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs analyses the U.S. coal mining sector with the aim to educate decision makers in Europe about the economic as well as social impacts of a declining national coal market. By exploring challenges that the U.S coal industry has been facing in recent years and examining measures undertaken to address them, the document identifies the best practices of the U.S. coal sector and translates them for use in the European context.  Based on the analysed case studies the paper suggests policy changes that could help European national coal producers to avoid bankruptcy.