It definitely seems like most people are dismissive of this point because they think technology has somehow advanced to the point where we will never be able to have accidents.
They're common enough that the risks are known to coal-towns. But they're uncommon enough that most people don't seem to know about them. There are many coal-seam fires across the world, all of which take decades (or centuries) before the fires are expected to burn out.
In contrast, nuclear disasters are so rare that pretty much every nuclear disaster is known by everyone. Nuclear disasters are your "black swan" event, so to speak.
I doubt there's any conspiracy, or detractors to the coal-seam fires. Its just not a very well known fact.
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There are literally hundreds of coal seam fires around the world right now. Small enough to be obscure, large enough to not catch the attention of anybody looking for novelties.
