Rick Steffenson puts food on the table with a giant metal scoop shovel.

He runs a 3,400-ton dragline for a living, scraping away topsoil in monstrous chunks from the Missouri River basin. Steffenson and several other workers just like him search tirelessly for some of the world's least efficient coal - low-grade lignite.

Coal veins run straight to the heart of life in western North Dakota. The economy on this side of the state would seize without them. In the rural Mercer and Oliver counties, energy-related jobs account for 41 percent of employment and 66 percent of the wages. Big Coal is not just a way of life there - for so many people, there'd be no life without it.

"There's absolutely no question that energy is the most important employer here," said John Philips, the city planner in Beulah.

So you see why it might be difficult for some folks to quietly nod along while outsiders talk about carbon footprints and global warming. All the tree-huggers in the world couldn't squeeze tight enough to make anyone in Coal Country forget where their bread is buttered.

At the same time, the pressure to switch to greener technologies is bolstered by more than the vocal wishes of environmentalists on the coasts. Alarming facts and figures make a strong argument for responsible use of fossil fuels. Numbers can be molded like Play-Doh to achieve desired shapes, but here's an interesting tidbit: A United Nations body reported last year that North America's fossil-fuel emissions - which were linked to global warming - account for more than a quarter of the world's total. The single largest contributor? Power plants like the coal-fired septet in North Dakota.

The state doesn't report its carbon dioxide emissions, because it isn't required to by the Environmental Protection Agency. The emissions it does monitor - including sulfur dioxide and mercury - are below the mandated threshold, in some cases by quite a bit. North Dakota is among a handful of states to pass the smokestack emissions and ambient-air tests with flying colors, according to the health department.

But that has done little to lessen the growing pressure related to carbon dioxide.

So what does it all mean for this state, particularly as energy needs continue to grow? More wind turbines? Yes. A focus on biofuels? Check.

But what about coal? What about all those people like Steffenson who use coal to put food on the table? What are the pressures they might face? What is carbon sequestration? What are carbon credits?

The Tribune hopes to answer those questions in this series. The stories in today's paper - as well as stories on Monday and Tuesday - aim to lay out what some of the issues are regarding carbon dioxide. Reporters have talked to experts in the field, as well as lay people, to help explain the state of affairs and the terminology behind it.

Regardless of your take on global warming and energy concerns, we hope you find the series useful.

(Reach reporter Tony Spilde at 250-8260 or tony.spilde@bismarcktribune.com.)