A GREAT coal rush is under way across China on a scale not seen anywhere since the 19th century.

Nonetheless, the Chinese plan to build no fewer than 500 new coal-fired power stations, adding to some 2,000, most of them unmodernised, that spew smoke, carbon dioxide and sulphur dioxide into the atmosphere.

Cloaked in swirling mists of soot particles and smoke, cities such as China’s “coal capital” of Datong are entering the coldest period of winter in which demand for power and heating produces the worst pollution.

This is nuts. How long does this have to go on before goverments realize the world cannot sustain it's population with people consuming like those in the US?

Globalization sure gives us cheap sh%t at Walmart, but it looks like it's going to be expensive when it's all said and done.