The Ancient Greeks believed that everything in the world was composed of some combination of the four elements: earth, air, water and fire. These four elements still define our environment today. As such, they provide a framework for the environmental issues being tackled by Canada's coal industry. Initiatives to address land use, waste, air and water quality, wildlife and even noise concerns are currently being implemented in coal-related activities across the country.

Canada's coal industry is actively seeking ways to address environmental concerns on three fronts:

• the first is at the mine site where mining and processing methods are designed to minimize local air, water, land and community impacts;

• the second is at the power plants where improved coal-burning technologies have reduced emissions and advanced technologies are promising even greater reductions;

• the third front addresses the challenges of global cooperation in order to minimize coal's environmental impact around the world.

On all of these fronts, the coal industry is working cooperatively with governments, communities and other stakeholders to ensure environmental initiatives are addressed. The following sections provide more information on some of these programs.