We're familiar with the photos of Shanghai, Beijing and other Chinese cities engulfed in dense smog from severe air pollution. The rapid development of the Chinese economy and heavy industry over the past 20 years has in large part been from the use of coal in major industries like steel, cement and electric power production. But as ex-Department of Energy official Joe Romm writes in Think Progress, China appears to have turned the corner on coal as a major fuel source, cutting the use of coal: 3% in 2014, 5% in 2015, and a projected 3% in this year. Last fall's bilateral agreement between the U.S. and China on climate change will also result in China's adoption of a cap-and-trade system that will discourage coal usage.
Now, the U.S. needs to keep up its end of the agreement. Once again, the importance of electing a Congress in 2016 that understands the challenge of climate change, is willing to act on it, and refuses to serve as employees of the fossil fuel industry can't be overstated.
(photo: Air pollution in Tienamen Square, Beijing in January 2013. Ng Han Guan, Associated Press)
