When it comes to air pollution, Poland is the China of Europe

[Puremallace]

So what I find interesting about this is we always point at China and wag our finger but a country like Poland and cities like Paris are extremely polluted. My question is why is this allowed by the people that live there? In the US when this happened people were in the streets.

Even with a right wing government the market has literally forced energy companies for the most part to shift to other source like renewables or nat gas. What is going on in Europe? Interesting line from the article points the finger at the right wing government.

Source: https://qz.com/882158/with-air-pollu...YPL&yptr=yahoo

Unlike most of Europe, Poland is a coal-burning country. Coal is not only the main energy source, generating more than 80% of its electricity, but it’s also still used, along with other cheap materials including trash, to heat homes in the winter—hence the worsening smog when temperatures drop. The right-wing government currently in power has emphasized the importance of the fossil fuel industry for the country’s labor market, and plans on protecting the sector rather than making significant shifts toward renewable energy.

Warsaw is far from Poland’s worst city when it comes to air quality. A staggering 33 out of the 50 most polluted cities in Europe are in Poland, according to the World Health Organization; people in the industrial south of the country have been living in dangerous levels of smog for years.

[Tradewind]

China is actually stepping up finally, Solar energy and Renewable energy is growing in China now, and the government is starting to crack down on polluters after the various smog videos have started coming out.

It's getting better but they still brought online something like 500GW of new coal power plants in the last year

[Puremallace]

It's getting better but they still brought online something like 500GW of new coal power plants in the last year

Yeah but my issue with this is China is considered a "developing" world power still. Poland has been pretty independent after the collapse of the USSR.

[Puupi]

Yeah but my issue with this is China is considered a "developing" world power still. Poland has been pretty independent after the collapse of the USSR.

And that wasn't so long ago.

[Rafoel]

Poland's industry was always based on coal. It's coal reserves are biggest in UE by far at 14 billion tones. Communist government considered it an important asset and built most southern cities and factories with coal mines in mind. Due to unfortunate positioning - lowlands right between uplands and mountains - a lot of generated smoke stays down and pollutes air to absurd levels.

Unfortunately, it isn't likely to change. A lot of people have work because of the functioning coal mines, and this specific group is known for particularly "violent" and organized methods of defending their interests. No government is going to risk upsetting them, especially in the current political situation.

[Deleted]

I know the thread is about Poland and its Coal use.
But, it does not help the fact that they still burn Trash in Yards and other places .Sure they get fined for it. But more often then not the Polish Police ignore it, or get bribed away.

[Puremallace]

Poland's industry was always based on coal. It's coal reserves are biggest in UE by far at 14 billion tones. Communist government considered it an important asset and built most southern cities and factories with coal mines in mind. Due to unfortunate positioning - lowlands right between uplands and mountains - a lot of generated smoke stays down and pollutes air to absurd levels.

Unfortunately, it isn't likely to change. A lot of people have work because of the functioning coal mines, and this specific group is known for particularly "violent" and organized methods of defending their interests. No government is going to risk upsetting them, especially in the current political situation.

Very interesting. Yeah it really only changed in the US when it came down to basically subsidizing the plants as NAT gas became WAY cheaper. There was a 10MW coal plant built in like 1920 operating Missouri that they did not want to shut down so we have seen that in the US.

Thanks for the insight on this as it helps me understand how EU can sound so pro climate change but then you see a story like this.