--- title: Coal Isn’t Coming Back description: Coal isn’t coming back, the idea of the 'west' is over and more. canonical: https://time.com/4591896/coal-isnt-coming-back/ author: TIME article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-12-06T17:00:17.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T04:59:15.871Z article:section: Ideas og:title: Coal Isn't Coming Back og:description: These are today's best ideas og:url: https://time.com/4591896/coal-isnt-coming-back/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Coal Isn't Coming Back twitter:description: These are today's best ideas twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Coal Isn't Coming Back by [The Aspen Institute](https://time.com/author/the-aspen-institute/) ## The Aspen Institute Dec 6, 2016 5:00 PM UTC by [The Aspen Institute](https://time.com/author/the-aspen-institute/) ## The Aspen Institute Dec 6, 2016 5:00 PM UTC **1\.** [**Coal isn’t coming back.**](http://e360.yale.edu/feature/why%5Fus%5Fcoal%5Findustry%5Fand%5Fits%5Fjobs%5Fare%5Fnot%5Fcoming%5Fback/3059/) By James Van Nostrand at Yale Environment 360 **2\.** [**The idea of the ‘west’ — a partnership between the U.S. and a united Europe — is finished.**](https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/goodbye-to-american-global-leadership-by-joschka-fischer-2016-12) By Joschka Fischer in Project Syndicate **3\.** [**Legal pot is here. Where are the entrepreneurs to help make it a big business? Prison.**](https://story.californiasunday.com/oakland-marijuana-entrepreneurs) By Alex Halperin in California Sunday **4\.** [**Find out how the NFL is hooking your kids on football.**](http://highline.huffingtonpost.com/articles/en/nfl-football-moms-kids/) By George Dohrmann and Finlay Mackay at Huffington Post Highline **5\.** [**Technology could open the door for millions of people locked out of the financial system. Here’s how.**](https://medium.com/the-aspen-institute/can-we-increase-financial-inclusion-through-nonprofit-powered-fintech-57ce776f4281#.8ayfklodp) By Tim Flacke, Leigh Phillips, Mae Watson Grote, Jose Quinonez, Margaret Libby and Cathie Mahon at the Aspen Institute  [_The Aspen Institute_](http://www.aspeninstitute.org/) _is an educational and policy studies organization based in Washington, D.C._ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4591896/coal-isnt-coming-back/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4591896/coal-isnt-coming-back/"},"headline":"Coal Isn't Coming Back","datePublished":"2016-12-06T17:00:17.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T04:59:15.871Z","description":"These are today's best ideas","url":"https://time.com/4591896/coal-isnt-coming-back/","keywords":["Innovation","Marijuana","coal","europe","NFL","finance"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"The Aspen Institute","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/the-aspen-institute/"}],"articleSection":"Ideas","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/ideas/","name":"Ideas"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/innovation/","name":"Innovation"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4591896/coal-isnt-coming-back/","name":"Coal Isn't Coming Back"}}]}] ```