Europe's coal miners, who are as politically potent and as well protected as America's farmers, are in a querulous mood. In past months, miners have staged angry protest marches in Germany's Ruhr and battled against truncheon-swinging police in Belgium (toll: two dead). Behind this unrest is an upheaval in the sources of energy that are at the root of Europe's economic strength. As it has in the U.S., coal is losing its primacy to gas, oil and nuclear energy. The result is fewer jobs for miners but more opportunities for those who can exploit...
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