3. In appraising coal's future it is useful to look at its past. At the turn of the century coal was king and supplied over 53% of our total energy needs. Except for metallurgical coal, coal is a fuel and as such it must compete with all other fuels. In the days when our primary concern was with cheap energy coal fared poorly in the competition with other fuels. It lost market or market share to other fuels that were cheaper to use, more convenient to use, or both. Even in the electric utility market it lost market share but today this is the only segment of the energy market where coal furnished is greater in quantity than it was 10, 20, or 30 years ago. The historical figures also suggest that coal would have been even further displaced in this market except for additional production from surface mining. While underground mining production has been flat in the past ten years, surface mining has grown at a rate approximating that of the electric utility industry. In its battle with other fuels only the most competitive of the coal deposits have been able to enter the market and only the fittest have survived. Natural gas priced artifically low and foreign oil have influenced the price structure and demand for all fuels. But now the nation wants clean energy domestically produced at tolerable prices - prices that will maintain and hopefully enhance our economic and social well being. Against these new parameters where does coal's future lie? Here national statistics can be dangerously misleading, for coal must be looked at and dealt with on a regional basis, because conditions vary greatly. Our coal resources are abundant and ample but a large part of these reserves will be outlawed from the market place until new technologies become