Environmental analyst Lester Brown says it's time for the U.S. to ditch its coal supply and turn to investing in wind farms and solar technology instead. It is believed there is enough coal in the ground to last the country another 200 years, however polticians and the public have been so outspoken with concerns about global warming that Brown says this is most likely "the beginning of the end of the coal industry."

Brown believes alternative sources of energy would be less expensive and more effective than current efforts to prevent power plant emissions.

"Carbon sequestration has been something the coal industry has leaned on to avoid facing the full force of the climate concerns and will probably not be a viable option," said Brown, president of the Earth Policy Institute, a nonprofit environmental organization. ""The public at large is turning against coal," he said, citing a 2007 national poll by the Opinion Research Corp in which only 3 percent of people chose coal as their preferred source for electricity.

Of the 151 coal plants that were in the planning stages last year, 59 were denied licenses by government officials or abandoned altogether, 50 were being contested in court and the rest were expected to be challenged.

Well if the coal industry dies, Frosty the Snowman will be blind and Santa will have to find an eco-friendly alternative to leave in the stockings of the naughty kids. There goes the holiday season as we know it.

» Reuters Environment