Best Answer: The presence of coal is not. Burning coal is depending on who you talk to (generally considered that it is). Coal is essentially heavily compressed organic matter which never had a chance to decay. Burning it releases any carbon which was present in the organic matter at the time of it's death which combines with Oxygen to form CO2. This is not necessarily bad for the environment as it's been there before but it's not ideal for the climate. What is bad for the environment is the particulates produced by incomplete combustion of coal and the sulpher present in certain types.