In China, the war on coal just got serious

Beijing: In Australia, politicians continue to debate the existence of climate change. Donald Trump's Environment Protection Agency declared this week that the "war on coal is over”.

A woman wears a mask as she walks on a street in Beijing.

In China, the outlook could not be more different.

The war on coal reached fever pitch here this month. As a deadline looms to achieve clean air targets by the end of 2017, October has seen unprecedented measures come into force to curb air pollution and reduce emissions.

Steel production has been halved in major steel cities, coal banned in China's coal capital, factories closed down for failing pollution inspections, and hundreds of officials sacked for failing to meet environmental targets.

Read Kirsty Needham’s story in today’s  Melbourne Age - “In China, the war on coal just got serious.”

Madness afoot in U.S. Republican presidential pre-selections

Madness afoot in U.S, presidential
pre-selections with Republican
Ted Cruz promising to end the 'war on coal'.

Republican candidate Ted Cruz promised to roll back what he calls President Barack Obama's 'war on coal' if he's elected president.

The Texas senator made the pledge in a speech to the Republican State Convention in Casper on Saturday.

Wyoming, the nation's leading coal-producing state, has seen hundreds of coal industry layoffs in recent months as several of the nation's largest coal companies have filed for federal bankruptcy protections.

Calling America, "the Saudi Arabia of coal," Cruz promised to roll back federal regulations he says hamper coal production.

The Obama administration recently imposed a moratorium on new coal leases.

Wyoming and other states have mounted legal challenges in recent years to US Environmental Protection Agency regulations tightening emission limits on coal-fired power plants.

"Hillary Clinton promises that if she's elected, she's going to finish the task and bankrupt anyone associated with coal," Cruz said.

"I give you my word right now, we are going to lift the federal regulators back, we are going to end the war on coal."

Obama, in announcing the restrictions in 2014, said carbon emission cause health problems and contribute to global warming.

Read the Ben Neary story in the BusinessDay section of today’s Melbourne Age - “Republican candidateTed Cruz vows to fight against 'war on coal’.”

(Stop the bus, I want to get off – madness is afoot among Republican candidates in the U.S. presidential pre-selection process with Ted Cruz showing his disdain for climate science in allowing full-rein to the use of coal and Donald Trump’s spokeswoman, Clara Powers, of Wheatland, telling the crowd she has three grandchildren and "I do not want any of them working with next generation science."

"I do not want my grandchildren to believe in evolution. I do not want my grandchildren thinking that global warming is more important than our national security," she added.

My shoulders droop – obviously, neither Cruz, Trump, or any of their supporters has any faith or belief in science,the science that has delivered modernity to their lives, and ache for the “the good ‘ol days”, which any objective investigation will quickly and irrefutably illustrate, were not so good – Robert McLean.)