And those smog problems have dire consequences.

From National Geographic, "Coal-Burning Shortens Lives in China":

"Life expectancy in northern China was 5.5 years shorter than in southern China in the 1990s, and a health risk disparity lingers today, a difference almost entirely due to heart and lung disease related to air pollution from the burning of coal, a new study shows. ... Since there are 500 million residents of Northern China, that means air pollution is associated with the loss of more than 2.5 billion life years of life expectancy, the study says."

From the South China Morning Post:

"Air pollution from 196 coal-fired power stations in Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei caused 9,900 premature deaths in 2011, with the province, a big coal consumer, deserving most of the blame, according to a new study."