Cherry Discovers Early Evidence Coal Knew

Associate Department Head of Undergraduate Studies Chris Cherry accidentally discovered what is so far the earliest known evidence of the coal industry acknowledging its awareness of the impending climate crisis in a 1966 copy of the industry publication Mining Congress Journal.

The journal contains a passage from James R. Garvey, who was president of Bituminous Coal Research Inc., a now-defunct coal mining and processing research organization, admitting he knew there was evidence that the combustion of fossil fuels was contributing to an increase in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, which was predicted to increase the earth’s temperature and result in vast changes in the planet’s climate.

“It pretty well described a version of what we know today as climate change,” said Cherry. “Increases in average air temperatures, melting of polar ice caps, rising of sea levels. It’s all in there.”

The full story is reported in HuffPost article written by the department’s writer, Èlan Young.