And with regulators making things increasingly tougher on coal, shale is expected to step in and fill the void.

FORBES: Oil and Natural Gas Part Ways

Separately, a government official said China would continue to rely on domestic coal production for most of its energy needs but was also looking to step up investment in renewable industries.

BBC: NEWS | Business | China gets foreign oil incentives

Moreover, much of the coal he bought from Burlington is low-quality lignite, a brownish fuel one step removed from peat, which can't be transported because it tends to spontaneously combust.

FORBES: Companies, People, Ideas

Ms. VICKIE PATTON (Environmental Defense): EPA has, in a number of instances, taken a step back from its proposal and instead will allow some of these high-polluting, older coal plants to continue to discharge smog-forming and haze-forming pollution at a level that doesn't really reflect what today's modern pollution control technology can, in fact, achieve.

NPR: E.P.A Proposes New Rules on Haze