World coal prices rise to record high

[phantom power]

Coal prices hit an all-time high yesterday, with Xstrata persuading Chugoku Electric of Japan to pay almost $130 (£80) a tonne for coal sourced from the miner over the next 12 months – 30 per cent more than the contract was worth last year.

The rising price reflects the boom in demand for energy resources in China and India, as well as supply problems caused by Australia's floods.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/world-coal-prices-rise-to-record-high-2260098.html

[Davis_X_Machina]

1. People respond to price signals...

...it would be better if there were some way to cushion the blow, on a sliding scale by income, but rising energy prices will eventually get us where the planet needs us to go.

They're a third-best solution, at best, however.

[customerserviceguy]

2. Add to that

all the coal that Japan is going to need to buy to ramp up production at its coal-fired power plants to replace the lost energy from the nuke plants that went down.