On Monday protestors from around the country will be gathering in Washington, D.C., to take part in an act of civil disobedience to demonstrate their belief that the United States. must stop its use of coal to generate electricity. Halting the use of this fossil fuel, they say, is the only hope for reducing the number of parts per million of carbon dioxide in the earth’s atmosphere and putting the brakes on global warming. Organizers point to data publicized by notable scientists, such as climatologist James Hansen of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, to back up their claim that human activities, such as the use of coal, are responsible for global warming.

Online Google searches for “global warming” and “global warming skeptics” will yield a number of theories about global warming—about whether it exists, and about what could be causing it. Some scientists believe that Earth’s atmosphere is not warming. Others believe that it is, but do not believe human activities are responsible.

Is the earth warming? Some scientists say yes, some say no. But there’s no dispute that glaciers and longstanding mountain snowcaps are melting at alarming rates. And it is unlikely many would argue that there hasn’t been an increase in extreme weather events around the world in recent years, events that scientists say are indicators of a warming atmosphere.

Should we continue to burn coal? We know it pollutes the air. Air pollution has been shown to lead to a number of adverse health effects—so much so that congested cities issue regular air-quality warnings, cautioning people to stay indoors. It’s hard to believe that all the toxins spewed into the air by coal-fired plants and by vehicles and buildings that burn oil aren’t also having an effect on the atmosphere.

Despite what people may believe about global warming and its causes, aren’t there a lot of good reasons to aggressively pursue alternative energy and say goodbye to the days of coal and oil?