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The history of coal as a brand

Coal may be synonymous with pollution but as coal historian Barbara Freese found, that wasn’t always the case.

New numbers show that China’s coal production will likely grow about 3 percent this year, despite a government campaign to cut air pollution.

Coal’s history has been intertwined with growth, the industrial age, and lately, pollution and climate change. Barbara Freese is the author of Coal: A Human History, and discusses the history of coal as a brand.

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