the mineral, which is used to generate half the nation's 
electricity, is crucial to preventing the spread of the California energy 
crisis. 
Coal "didn't have a very friendly forum in this town" during the Clinton 
administration, an environmental official said. The Clinton administration 
favored rigorous enforcement of clean air controls on emissions by 
coal-burning utilities and encouraged expansion of power plants using cleaner 
natural gas. The Bush administration, in a tilt back the other way, contends 
that an expansion of coal-generated power must be part of the "balanced" 
energy policy needed to provide ample electricity at reasonable prices. 
But coal's new strength also rests on the enhanced influence, in the 
aftermath of last year's election, of a network of interests, such as 
electric utilities and railroads, that stronglyoppose lessening the 
country's dependence on coal. 
In late February, senior executives of coal, utility and railroad companies 
descended on Washington under the auspices of an informal group, the 
Coal-Based Generators, to lobby for legislation providing tax credits and 
other subsidies for utilities using experimental "clean coal" technologies. 
Among them were Irl Engelhardt, chairman of the Peabody Group, the nation's 
largest coal enterprise, whose holding company contributed $250,000 to the 
Republican National Committee in July. Engelhardt himself served as an energy 
adviser to the Bush-Cheney transition team. 
Meanwhile, coal, rail and power companies such as Peabody Holdings Inc., 
Burlington Northern/Santa Fe, and Southern Co., provided funding last year to 
start Americans for Balanced Energy Choices, to develop grass-roots support 
for coal. 
"The market realities have changed, and the