While
declining strongly in the industrialized regions as a result of sulfur control policies in Europe and North America, and because of economic reforms in Russia and Eastern Europe, emissions increase
rapidly in Asia with an increase in the energy demand and
coal use.
Given that nearly all the major US
coal companies are now bankrupt, and that
coal - fired electricity is
declining rapidly, I'd have expected a lot of «wrecking ball» pieces on the supposed damage to the economy (in reality, the effects are small and mostly offset by the expansion of renewables) now that mitigation policies of various kinds are taking effect.