Nowhere has the political power of coal been more obvious than in presidential campaigns.

Although most Americans don't know it, the U.S. gets more oil from Canada than it does from the entire Middle East.

Americans don't pay much attention to environmental issues, because they aren't sexy. I mean, cleaning up coal plants and reining in outlaw frackers is hugely important work, but it doesn't get anybody's pulse racing.

Mark Ruffalo, aka the Incredible Hulk, is the natural gas industry's worst nightmare: a serious, committed activist who is determined to use his star power as a superhero in the hottest movie of the moment to draw attention the environmental and public health risks of fracking.

Compared to coal, which generates almost half the electricity in the United States, natural gas is indeed a cleaner, less polluting fuel. But compared to, say, solar, it's filthy. And of course there is nothing renewable about natural gas.

In the world of energy politics, the sudden vanishing of the word 'coal' is a remarkable and unprecedented event.

In the United States, we do a pretty good job of protecting iconic landscapes and postcard views, but the ocean gets no respect.