Cost plays a great role in the mining because coal is the most inexpensive fossil fuel, compared to the other fossil fuels so it is used widely.
Step-by-step explanation:
A fossil fuel is a fuel formed by natural processes, such as anaerobic decomposition of buried dead organisms, containing energy originating in ancient photosynthesis. Such organisms and their resulting fossil fuels typically have an age of millions of years, and sometimes more than 650 million years.
Coal is a fossil fuel which is used most widely in the United States of America to produce electricity because it is the the most inexpensive fossil fuel. It produces more than 50% of the electricity of the country. So cost plays a huge role in the consumption of this fossil fuel.