I have enjoyed reading the compelling and well-supported discussion broached here regarding coal use and its transportation. Bottom line is this: As a nonrenewable natural resource, coal is in finite supply. No one - including pundits, scientists, environmentalists, media, and politicians - have the prescience to know exactly when total depletion will occur. So, coal's last day - whether it be 50, 100, or 150 years distant - remains a matter of conjecture.
Even so, there is no better time than the present to install more responsible methods of coal extraction, transportation, and exploitation for energy generation. Whether they subscribe to the idea of global warming or not, forward-thinking world citizens realize that it is never too early to recognize and develop viable alternatives to coal, oil, and natural gas. Some in this country fear that this change in ethos will not occur until corporate America has squeezed every possible dollar out of nonrenewables and the long-term investment made to exploit such. Indeed, a sound argument could be made to support this claim. But don't forget that greater independence from oil, coal, and natural gas could lessen the likelihood of further conflict between developed and developing nations vying for control of these resources.
Truly, this issue has worldwide implications and is far more critical than what type of bag one uses to cart groceries from the checkout line to the trunk of their car. Sure, UP and BNSF are profiting enormously from the transporation of coal out of the Powder River Basin now, but someday those beefed up backwoods mainlines in Nebraska and Wyoming will starve from a dearth of traffic.

My $0.02 worth ... Chris Goepel ...