In the comment you replied to, it says > A wealthy and prosperous nation doesn't want coal and can afford the cost of switching to alternatives. AFAICT, China

In the comment you replied to, it says > A wealthy and prosperous nation doesn't want coal and can afford the cost of switching to alternatives. AFAICT, China is a wealthy and prosperous nation, and by nation we mean the state, but the same cannot be said for the people. I could be wrong but that's how I see things through media. If that's correct, then it means that there are just too many people and even China still cannot afford to use clean energy for all. The elephant in the room has to be mentioned too: They are producing for the rest of the world, enabling the west not to look like an environmental disaster.