[Magdalen] gas prices?

[Jim Guthrie]

I did have to laugh at the nincompoopery on MSNBC the other night -- talking 
about Kentucky Coal, with their "Expert" citing an ad for anthracite from the 
1890s touting "clean burning coal" and using it as cudgel against dirty coal.

It should be noted that unlike bituminous coal (as in Kentucky) anthracite is 
virtually smokeless -- and as a result, was considered "clean burning coal."

And to go further -- the anthracite industry not only advertised its "clean" 
qualities, it lobbied hard throughout the Northeast and state bordering the 
Great Lakes for municipalities to pass clean air/smoke nuisance laws to ban 
bituminous, lignite, oil and wood burning.

In that sense, the anthracite industry was the granddaddy of the clean air 
movement.

Let me hasten to add that anthracite is quite efficient at pumping carbon into 
the atmosphere, but a hundred years ago, if you couldn’t see the smoke, it was 
clean.

Cheers,
Jim Guthrie