Coal has dominated the U.S. power industry for so long because it's a cheap and abundant domestic resource.

MSN: Coal producers find themselves in a hard place

Coal: Coal is our most abundant energy resource and therefore should not be shunned in favor of natural gas for electric power generation.

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Natural gas has become a cheap and abundant domestic resource, too.

MSN: Coal producers find themselves in a hard place

In Denmark, wind IS the main abundant energy resource.

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Stone Energy (SGY), which is headquartered in Lafayette, Louisiana, is drilling several deep and ultradeep wells in Vermilion and Cameron parishes in the belief that gas-bearing reservoirs below the shallow Gulf bleed onshore, and that onshore drilling offers a way to tap an abundant hydrocarbon resource without incurring the considerable expenses of underwater operations.

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The second game-changer is, for the first time in history, the prime economic asset is an abundant rather than a scarce resource.

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In the euphoria over the newly abundant fossil fuels, it would be easy to forget that the most economically beneficial energy resource is still energy efficiency.

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