Poland’s coal strategy has implications both for the Poles and for Europe more broadly. Six of the 10 European cities with the highest concentrations of particulate matter are in Poland, including Krakow, which is ranked third over all, just behind the Bulgarian cities Pernik and Plovdiv, according to European government data. Particulate matter consists of tiny airborne droplets or gas particles that come from smokestacks and tailpipes, or from burning wood or coal for home heating, and they can lead to a variety of health problems. While large cities like Krakow and Zabrze do not have levels on a par with the extreme pollution of Beijing, their levels are well past the concentrations deemed safe by health experts.

But the center-right government, which came to power in 2007, has not changed its energy course. Prime Minister Donald Tusk said in September that coal was a basis of the Polish economy. The main opposition party, Law and Justice, is even further to the right. It is led by Jaroslaw Kaczynski, who has said that carbon dioxide has no impact on climate and that any regulations on climate are written only to force Poland to buy expensive technologies.

The left, which might be more open to environmentalist positions, has little voice in the matter, having been in disarray for several years after a series of corruption scandals.

The coal strategy has been partly influenced by Poland’s fraught relationship with Russia, which wields its oil and natural gas reserves as a political weapon. That is one reason Poland, since its break with the former Soviet bloc three decades ago, has sought greater energy independence by relying on its own coal resources.

Poland was once one of the largest exporters of coal, which has shaped its affinity for it. But at this point, its industrial economy has grown so that Poland can no longer meet its own coal needs. It is now a net importer of coal and, in an energy irony, Russia accounts for about two-thirds of those imports. Last year, Poland bought more than six million metric tons of Russian coal, according to an estimate from Euracoal, an industry trade association.

In the last few years, Poland has played a more active role in the European Union, and particularly in the European Council, which comprises national leaders and prefers rule by unanimous decisions among the 28 member states. In June 2011, Poland stood alone in opposing climate targets that were to start in 2020 and continue through 2050. A top British official called the defeat “a dark day for Europe’s leading role in tackling climate change.”