The first step in getting off drugs is admitting you have a problem. Thus, China has taken crucial big step, even if they aren’t sure how to kick the addiction completely. That they admit to the problem and want to solve it at the governmental level puts them way ahead of the current US government. Presumably, President Obama will be taking real action. “Imagine, a president who actually believes in science.”
How does a rapidly industrializing country provide power for literally billions of people? Any way it can, that’s how. So it behooves us as a planet to create cleantech ways to generate power that cost less than coal. With the huge promise of geothermal, solar, wind, wave, and tidal power generation, we will get there. But it does need to happen fast.