Agrowingnumberofcountrieswanttophaseoutcoalentirely,atransitioneasedbycheapnaturalgasandcostofwindandsolarpower.Thatisgoodnews.Coalhasbeenthelargestengineofchangetodate,accountingfornearlyathirdoftheriseinaveragetemperaturessincetheIndustrialRevolution.Anypressureonitthereforecountsasprogress. Asiaaccountsfor75%oftheworld'scoaldemand.TheChinesegovermenthastakenstepstolimitpollutionandsupportrenewables.Yetcoalconsumptionthererosein2018,asitdidtheyearbefore.InIndiacoaldemandgrewby9%lastyear.InVietnamitswelldbyaltmostaquarter. Tokeeptheriseinglobaltemperaturestonomorethan1.59Crelativetopre-industrialtimes,climatologistsinsistthatalmostallcoalplantsmustshutby2050,whichmcansstartingtoactnow. Today'strendswouldkeepthelastcoalplantopenuntil2079,cstimatesUBS,abank.Asia'scoal-firedpowerregimenthasasprightlyavcrageageof15,comparedwithacreaky40yearsinAmerica,closetoretirement. Thereareseveralreasonsforthis,butonestandoutgovemmentIsupport.InIndiastate-ownedcompaniesinvestmorethan$6bnincoalminingandcoal-firedpowereachyear,statebackedbanksprovidesome$10.6bninfinancing.IndoncsiadolesoutmorethanS2bnannuallyforconsumptionofcoalfiredpower.JapanandSouthKorcafinancecoalprojcctsoutsidetheirborders. Govermmentsupportishardlysurprising.State-backedcoalfirmsmakemoneyandcreatejobs.Windturbinesandsolarpanelsprovidepoweronlyintermittently;fornow,dirtierpowerplantsareneededasbackup.GasispumellingcoalinAmerica,butremainsabit-playerinIndiaandmuchofSouth-EastAsia,sinceithastobeimportedandisrelativelyexpensive. Neverheless,govermmentsbettingoncoalfacethreebigrisks.Oneisenvironmental. Emissionsfromcoalplantsthatarealreadybuilt--letalonenewones-willensurethattheworldexceedsthelevelofcarbon-diosideemissionslikelytopushglobaltemperaturesupbymoretham1.5% C. Thereisancconomiorisk,too.Public-sectorzealforcoalismatchedonlybyprivate-sectordistaste.Banks,includingAsianones,haveincreasinglysaidtheywillstopfundingnewcoalplants.Windandsolarfarmsmakecoallookincreasinglyexpensive.Astudyhasfoundthatprivatebanksprovidedthre-quartersofloanstoIndianrenewablesprojectslastyear,state-backedbanksdoledouttwo-thirdsofthoseforcoal. Andthenthereispolitics.Votersdonotlikebreathingsoot.Moreofthemareconcemedaboutelimnatechange,too,astheyfaceunpredictablegrowingseasons,foodsanddroughts. Accordingtothispassage,whichenergyisthekeyfactortoclimatechange?()
A.oil B.coal C.gas . D.solar panels正确答案B
