We have all kinds of coal. When we use coal to directly produce power, we introduce a lot of pollution and CO2. It's far better to use that coal to create needed fuel and reduce our use of mid east oil.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fischer-Tropsch_process
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sasol
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fischer-Tropsch_process
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sasol