Who’s on psychedelic trip as Trump trumps Macron, Paris burns and coal calls tune?

Kiddies demand we close a coalmine. AFP, Daily Mail, December 8:

Australian schoolchildren led thousands of demonstrators … calling for a halt on plans for Indian mining firm Adani to construct a … coalmine.

Try that in Poland? Joanna Berendt, The New York Times, December 4:

As thousands of (confused-looking delegates arrived for a UN climate change conference in Katowice, in the heart Poland’s coalmining country) … the Polish Coal Miners Band … struck up a tune … (Poland is Europe’s largest consumer of coal. It provides 80 per cent of its energy and employs 100,00 people.) Coal was proudly displayed in cases … fashioned into jewellery … (and a) coal-based cosmetics company even touted products … (to) treat both “body and soul”. The message … was not subtle. Coal … is king … “There is no plan today to fully give up on coal,” President Andrzej Duda said … “As long as I am the President, I won’t allow anyone to murder the Polish mining.”

Try that in China? Daniel Gardner, The New York Times, December 10:

Every year, China burns as much coal as the rest of the world combined, and every year since 2009 more cars have been sold there than in any other country … Last year, China produced 27 per cent of the global emissions of … (carbon dioxide, more than any other country) and its emissions are expected to rise by nearly 5 per cent by the end of this year. (China has said it will not even begin to decrease its use of coal until 2030) … Chinese energy companies are behind more than 200 new coal-fired power plants around the world.

Or Russia or Saudi Arabia. Ben Doherty, The Guardian, December 10:

Four of the world’s largest oil and gas producers (Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Russia and the US) blocked UN climate talks from “welcoming” a key scientific report on global warming.

But coal is crazy. Katharine Murphy, Guardian Australia, February 9, 2017:

There is no way you can write the sentence, “The treasurer of Australia, Scott Morrison, came to question time with a lump of coal on Thursday” and have that sentence seem anything other than the ravings of a psychedelic trip … What was this fresh idiocy? Journalists … blinked, as if this might have been a mirage. I’m still not entirely convinced it wasn’t … the treasurer … with a lump of coal, in the people’s house in 2017.

Reckless. CBS News, June 2, 2017:

The US is pulling out of the Paris climate agreement … “I was elected to represent the citizens of Pittsburgh, not Paris,” (President Donald Trump said and) reiterated his commitment to protecting middle-class families … and workers from higher energy prices and … job loss.

France won’t give up. Rebecca Shabad, CBS News, June 2, 2017:

French President Emmanuel Macron blasted President Trump … for pulling the US out of the Paris climate agreement … “I can assure you France will not give up the fight.”

France give up? Alissa J. Rubin, The New York Times, December 10:

Faced with violent protests and calls for his resignation, President … (Macron has stepped) back from his ambitions to reshape France’s economy …

Who won’t give up? Gavin Fernando, news.com.au, December 11:

Emmanuel Macron has declared a state of emergency … (as violence continues despite his attempts) to placate “yellow vest” … protesters who wreaked havoc in Paris (enraged by a green fuel tax he imposed and has since cancelled).