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Rabbit: In his Arizona speech Trump said, "We've ended the war on beautiful, clean coal. They're taking out coal. They're going to clean it." Rabbit: Which only sounds stupid. In fact the coal industry does "wash" coal of impurities. Rabbit: That sounds good! Rabbit: Sure does. Then the coal companies take all the toxic chemicals "washed" from the coal and put them in massive sludge impoundments. Rabbit: That sounds...less good. Rabbit: Those toxic pools are poorly regulated and maintained, so finally they collapse and bury nearby towns and rivers. Rabbit: That sounds very bad. Rabbit: For rivers, towns, people, and fish? Yes. For coal companies? Not really.

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Trump's simplifying in an incredibly stupid way, but they really do "wash" coal, a process of stripping out all kinds of heavy metals and whatnot which you don't want in your air when you burn the coal. This process leaves behind something called, poetically enough, blackwater, which is thickened and poured into massive pools where it...sits. Presumably forever, except when it, um, doesn't.

So in that way "clean" coal isn't really clean; it simply moves the pollution elsewhere. I guess it's an improvement, especially if you can make sure only poor people live in the immediate vicinity. See also: West Virginia.

In theory these kinds of accidents are avoided because lawsuits and clean-up costs dissuade corporations from letting safety checks slide; in practical terms, however, companies can always spin off a subsidiary, sell it, and let it go bankupt, thus avoiding responsibility. (I haven't seen this happen with a coal mining company but read up on Pompton Lakes, New Jersey to see DuPont, one of the wealthiest corporations in the history of ever, play this game.)