The energy in America’s recoverable coal reserves is roughly equal to that of the world’s known oil reserves.

The energy contained in recoverable coal reserves in the U.S. has the energy equivalent of one trillion barrels of oil – roughly the same as the world’s known oil reserves.

U.S. Department of Energy, National Energy Technology Laboratory, Key Issues and Mandates: Clean-Energy Potential of Domestic Coal, http://www.netl.doe.gov/KeyIssues/secure_energy2a.html.