<P> In a 2004 effort to foster positive public opinion of coal, many large coal mining companies, electric utilities, and railroads in the U.S. launched a high - profile marketing campaign to convince the American public that coal - fired power can be environmentally sustainable, despite the fact that coal is the largest contributor of CO2 emissions in the electricity sector . However, some environmentalists condemned this campaign as a "greenwashing" attempt to use environmentalist rhetoric to disguise what they call "the inherently environmentally unsustainable nature of coal - fired power generation". </P> <P> Coal mining has historically been a male - dominated industry . Today, Grassroots organizations opposed to coal mining are mostly led by women . When asked why they are participating in the opposition of the coal industry, many women reference their identities as mothers as well as Appalachians . </P> <P> The United States has 477 billion tons of demonstrable reserves . The energy content of this coal exceeds that of oil and gas . </P>

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