There's good and bad to most ideas that apply sometimes and not in others. "The exception that proves the rule" I didn't know there were other reasons to mine coal than just energy. Should we not mine coal for those purposes? Solar panels aren't disposed of properly usually. Should we not use those? The discussion is Coal bad. Solar good. Not well we need some coal for steel production.

Global steel production is dependent on coal. 70% of the steel produced today uses coal. Metallurgical coal – or coking coal – is a vital ingredient in the steel making process. World crude steel production was 1.6 billion tonnes in 2013.