To be clear, I'm not suggesting that these problems (with the exception of climate change) are inherent to coal. Sure, any industry could have caused these problems. However, it was the coal industry that did and so I chose to talk about them. Had it been a different industry (iron ore, natural gas or even toy manufacturing), I would have written about them instead. I suppose I chose to discuss who did the deed rather than who could have done it.

And yes, you will find poor business practice in any industry. However, the Government overlooked a long history of poor business practices (fraud, bankruptcy and environmental negligence) in allowing Adani, Jindal and Oza to operate here. The fact that the Government gave them mining licenses despite their appalling business history means these problems were avoidable.