The East is green. Really?

Hear the one about China swearing off coal? If you still put any credence in Fairfax Media’s coverage of matters environmental, stories about the Middle Kingdom’s alleged embrace of a sustainable future powered by green energy might have seemed persuasive. After all, you may have thought, the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age are honest, responsible publications and their reporters would never, ever hype a story in order to, say,  give the then-Gillard government a leg-up in its push to defend the Carbon Tax. For example, the SMH reported in February, 2013.

“China’s decade-long boom in coal-driven heavy industry is about to end as the leadership shifts priorities towards energy conservation, say officials and policy advisers.”

That was then. Today, the SMH reports:

“…huge new coal mines [are] ramping up production in northern and far-western China.”

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