[PaulRobinson]

Great example of allowing perfect to be the enemy of good.

If major advanced economies are able to move their entire grid away from coal, it means the entire grid globally can move from coal.

"Ah", the critics say, "but manufacturing is so much more complex!"

Really? These are not countries without manufacturing. They have data centres stacked with the latest generation of Nvidia chips, electric rail, major capital cities, populations of millions...

... and of course, China agrees and is trying to move towards decarbonisation of their grid.

Yes, it'll take time, but it'll take even longer if you never start.

[munk-a]

Coal is so deeply irrational. Only when you plug your ears and scream can you block out comprehension of the massive local externalities that make it inefficient compared to other energy options. It is cheap to setup with minimal access to highly skilled professionals so it was a good option to bootstrap economies until recently when solar, wind and NG have become easy to access and cost competitive. It's perfectly reasonable to have a phase out timeline to avoid under utilizing paid-for infrastructure, but it is a dead technology.