They Knew and Didn't Care - Coal Industry Monsters

Yes, the coal industry was aware of the environmental impact of burning coal and it was a topic of discussion in at least one coal mining and processing research organization, Bituminous Coal Research Inc [BCRI] as early as 1966.

“There is evidence that the amount of carbon dioxide in the earth’s atmosphere is increasing rapidly as a result of the combustion of fossil fuels,” wrote Garvey [president of BCRI] . “If the future rate of increase continues as it is at the present, it has been predicted that, because the CO2 envelope reduces radiation, the temperature of the earth’s atmosphere will increase and that vast changes in the climates of the earth will result.”

This article was the first know industry reference to CO2 driven global warming, but it wasn’t the first time this topic had been discussed at the highest levels of the US government.

All of this was taking place well after climate change had become a commonly understood idea in the scientific community. A 1965 report from President Lyndon Johnson’s Science Advisory Committee was the first from the White House to address climate change (and is likely what precipitated the Mining Congress Journal article). “The climate changes that may be produced by the increased CO2 content could be deleterious from the point of view of human beings,” it warned.

As history shows, the coal industry immediately made their research information public and embarked on a concerted policy to drive down the use of coal for power generation and heating.  

Oh wait, that didn’t happen.  Something else happened and it’s still happening today. The coal industry joined with the oil and gas folks to fund and entire astro-turf galaxy of industry funded “think tanks” and opinion drivers to create the climate change denial complex.  Funded by the fossil fuel industry and working to ensure the industry can continue to proper even at the cost of the planet. 

They knew and they worked to hide that knowledge and then to discredit it.  It will turn out that history's greatest monsters sat behind their desks and let the planet burn.