Answer to Question 1
Answer: Surface mining is very destructive to the landscape, even with costly reclamation plans. Underground mining, though not as destructive as mining at the surface, can still be damaging to the environment, particularly through gas explosions and mine drainage.
Answer to Question 2
Answer: A resource is a useful mineral ultimately available commercially, whereas a reserve is a previously identified deposit from which minerals can be extracted profitably.
Answer to Question 3
Answer: Advantages to using wind energy are that wind is a widespread resource and does not produce any emissions. The turbines necessary for wind energy production are relatively quick to install. Disadvantages to wind energy are that not every location has the suitable wind speeds for generating energy, that turbines have a potential to kill birds, that erosion can undermine the foundations of the turbines, and that many who live in the region of wind farms cite how they make the landscape appear unattractive.
A fossil leaf in low-grade coal
How Coal Forms
How can we apply the categorical imperative to environmental issues?
Environmental Challenges
U.S. Subsurface Coal Mining: Output, Price, and Output per Worker-Hour, 1949–1994
Environmental Science Toward a Sustainable Future