There's so much nonsense and stupidity in the debate on coal...

There's so much nonsense and stupidity in the debate on coal that it's hard to know where to start the rebuttal. Using coal is entirely consistent with the Paris Agreement that is agnostic on the source of emissions reduction. It's up to each country as to how they meet their targets and if they are, for example, currently burning oil, wood and dung for power then switching to HELE coal, or pairing HELE coal with renewables to improve reliability, are low cost methods of meeting emissions targets. Closing Australia's coal industry does nothing to reduce demand for coal and consumers will simply switch to other markets even where that coal is dirtier than the Australian product. Do leftists really believe China and India will stop using coal just because they can't buy it from here? And if other countries are meeting their Paris commitments while burning coal what's the problem?