Coal In Trouble: China Begins New Plant Ban

It was announced yesterday that the Environmental Protection Agency was considering rules that would ban new coal plants unless they implemented costly carbon controls. That move is likely to be controversial, and those involved in the coal industry will fight hard to prevent the law from passing.

However, China doesn't have the same sorts of problems with lobbying and due process that exist in the United States. Today the country announced that it was banning the construction of new coal-fired power plants outright in three of its key industrial regions. The move...