Why the government is trying to make coal cute

Photos (clockwise): Coal miners leaving a Virginia mine in 1974 (Credit: Jack Corn / Wikimedia Commons – Public Domain). The Sherburne County (Sherco) Generating Station, a coal-fired power plant in Becker, Minnesota (Credit: © Tony Webster via Flickr – CC BY 2.0). Shrivelled and hardened lung of Black Lung victim (Credit: LeRoy Woodson / NARA – Public Domain). Acid mine drainage from abandoned coal mines in North Lima, Ohio. (Credit: Jack Pearce via Flickr – CC BY-SA 2.0). Article by Kate Yoder. Grist – January 29, 2026.

Can a lump of coal ever be … cute? It’s a question no one was thinking about until last Thursday, when Interior Secretary Doug Burgum posted a cartoon of himself on X kneeling next to “Coalie” — a combustible lump with giant eyes, an open-mouthed grin, and yellow boots, almost like a carbon-heavy Japanese video game character. […]

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Curated by John Wysocki

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