FRONTLINE Heat is a global report on what is being done by the world’s largest corporations and governments to respond to the challenges posed by climate change and to the call for reductions in carbon emissions. The program takes viewers to the world’s largest coal mine, oil refinery, and off-shore oil rig as well as America’s biggest utility companies and car manufacturers to explore the technological, political, and economic challenges facing global corporations.

In this video case study and corresponding business module, students are asked to consider how industries and governments are responding to climate change through a set of key themes, discussion questions and a classroom exercises. Students will present solutions to the challenging problems posed in the module.

In Coal in America: What is the Strategy, we explore how coal is the most ubiquitous form of energy generation in the US, but also the dirtiest. With a generation’s worth of useful life left in most coal plants, and clean coal still a theory, how will the industry adapt in a carbon-constrained world? The module examines the industry’s challenges and opportunities and asks students to think about the short-term and long-term future of coal in America.

Key Video Segment Themes:

• Americans expect cheap energy on demand (and lots of it).
• Coal is the cheapest form of energy – and the dirtiest.
• Carbon sequestration is touted as the silver bullet solution, but the technology is a long way from being market-ready.
• What is reasonable to expect from the industry in a carbon-constrained world?
• 52 percent of all electricity in the US comes from coal, and most plants have 20-30 more years of useful life.
• American Electric Power (AEP) is the single biggest emitter of CO2 in the U.S.