Coal is a resource, as is solar energy and even the environment we prefer to live in. We need to operate at some balance that optimizes our lives. CO2 is not a poison, in fact it is required for photosynthesis and the present atmospheric levels of about 380 parts per million are well under the optimum for plant growth (greenhouses generate CO2 to increase the concentration to the 1600 parts per million range, more than 4 times the normal concentration today). The problem we have with CO2 is that it acts as a weak greenhouse gas, water vapor is about 5 times more effective and methane about 30 times more effective as greenhouse gases. Adding CO2 to the atmosphere causes an increase in plant life, particularly ocean algae that produce most of our oxygen. We need to reduce and control the amount of CO2 we produce, not eliminate it altogether.