There seems little doubt that, were there coal deposits in the Arctic, the bucaneering White House would be issuing executive orders allowing their exploitation. This would be timely, of course, as the Arctic is increasingly ice-free. And why is it becoming ice-free? Would that have anything to do with burning coal do you suppose? (and oil / gas / peat / wood / biomass / ...?). Not if you're a climate change denier, of course. For the record, offshore drilling in the USA's Arctic region was (more or less) totally banned in December 2016 to protect ecosystems, and western Oil companies have been withdrawing from exploration because of high costs and potentially low returns.
There's an article in a recent Economist which seems required reading for those of a denier mentality – as well as for educators looking for up-to-date info. It here and its title is: "Skating on thin ice; the thawing Arctic threatens an environmental catastrophe".
There's a related article on how all this affects the weather. This is of particular interest to those of us in the UK who're on the receiving end of the Atlantic's antics on a daily basis.
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