Barbara Freese, lawyer and author of Coal: A Human History, states that coal burning needs to be phased out to prevent massive global climate change.

"Coal plants are responsible for one-third of US carbon dioxide emissions," said Freese. "CO2 levels are the highest they’ve ever been in the last 650,000 years. The sad part is there are currently 150 proposals for new coal plants in the country right now. We need to take this technology from the center of our society and move it towards the edge."

Freese distrusts Bush’s Clean Coal Power Initiative, and the efforts of companies to make coal cleaner.

Though public opinion tends to be pessimistic, Freese is adamant that immediate action needs to be taken.

"No problem has threatened our civilization quite like this," she said.