Good option, but short term. What matters most is the competition between Coal and natural gas. Daniel Cohen teaches environmental engineering at Rice University. We've seen a big surge in natural gas prices and and that really favors coal being used more for electricity. That's not because coal as a resource is currently cheaper than natural gas. Instead. Steve Sakala, an associate professor of economics at Tufts University, says the opposite is true. When demand starts to recover. What that means is that you're already using these other resources, you're going to start to use more of whatever you're most expensive resources and in many places that marginal fuel is coal. He says. Many coal fired power plants, said Idol these days but can still be activated and coal lobbyists like Michelle Bloodworth, CEO of America's Power says that's exactly why coal still needs to be part of the energy transition strategy. Cold must be an integral part of that strategy for a foreseeable future. If we all want to continue to maintain, keep our lights on and have affordable electricity. Clark Williams Derry at the Institute for Energy, Economics and Financial Analysis, as cold will probably stick around for a while longer for that very reason. But this spike in use just a blip. It's very clear Cole is on the decline and that long term trend is not going to change. He says The focus now should be on how to help folks transition from working in the coal industry. Finding new jobs. I mean, do you learn for marketplace? If you miss us on the air for some reason, or you just want to go back and listen to something again. Check out our podcast if you wanted to available, of course, on the platform of your.