Phil Again wrote:
around here coal is illegal for home heating, pittsburgh was known as
the smokey city

HeyBub:

You will have to just trust me on this:
There is a really, *really* good reason that Pittsburgh is renowned
world wide as the best place to get medical treatment for any lung
disease. North West Indiana around Gary and over into Chicago, IL
could be a very close 2nd place.

Particulate air pollution from "soft" coal is really nasty. Few
homeowners could afford the air scrubbers and filters to make coal
heating healthy for their own family or near neighbors.

I trust you and I'm not an advocate for coal. I'm in Texas: 1) We don't have
any coal to speak of, 2) Heating is not as big a problem as it is in the
northern climes (I'm at the same latitude as Cairo), 3) We've got lots of
oil and gas, and 4) Air conditioning is a bigger issue than heating in my
neighborhood.

Still, I thought the article was interesting and might give people an idea
or two when weighing their options.