Coal mines say they cut their emissions. Scientists don't believe them

A tweak in European Union rules for reporting methane has allowed open-pit mine operators to undercount their emissions. Physicist Jaroslaw Necki vividly recalls his trips to the “Sahara,” the vast open-pit mines of central Poland rich with soft lignite coal. Working in these treeless landscapes, where sand and clay stretch into the distance, he’d often forget he was in the middle of Europe. Over the years, these excursions have made the associate professor at Krakow’s Mining and Metallurgical Academy a leading global expert in methane emissions — a powerful greenhouse gas known to have a significant impact on global warming.