It will be great if wind and solar power can work as substitutes, but they can’t immediately serve as baseload power sources like coal does.

Will these developing countries already have in place the technology for 'clean coal'?

If not, wouldn't they be better off developing sources of renewable energy?

can’t immediately serve as baseload power sources like coal does.

No but extensive use of renewables will DECREASE our carbon footprint enough to buy us some time and save us some money to spend on R&D to make renewables able to serve as baseload power sources like coal does.

[wind and solar power] can’t immediately serve as baseload power sources like coal does.

No. No, they can't. But they will someday with the right investment of time, money, and ingenuity. It's not a matter of "if" solar will reach a level of energy efficiency close to coal, but "when." And make no mistake, scientists and engineers are working hard at it.

But we aren't there yet, and this is a truth that simply has to be internalized on some level by anti-coal, anti-oil, and anti-nuclear interests.

I want a clearer environement as well. But I also am not willing to cut off my nose to spite my face. Coal, oil, and nuclear aren't going away for the foreseable future.

Dear Professor: The earth is also round. Stop saying the bleeding obvious and come up with some original ideas.

(Admittedly low population) Austria is already 75% renewables, with the state of Lower Austria 100% clean energy. Germany has already set a record of meeting 74% of its electricity needs from wind and solar alone - albeit on a Sunday - so it's not all doom and gloom.

In Arimura, I hear the unholy trinity of government, industry and academia doing what they know best: guarding the status quo and vested interests of those who cannot dream, just reminisce.

Here's another snippet of the Japan Times article that our Quote of the Day hails from:

By promoting new and advanced coal technologies as cleaner and more efficient, Japan is contradicting environmentalists such as NRDC and WWF, which are seeking to discourage investors from backing fossil fuel. For major Japanese suppliers of power generation systems such as Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems Ltd., the national push also offers the opportunity to market their products in countries where coal is still widely used.

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2015/11/12/national/japan-pushes-clean-coal-technology-hurdles-abound/#.VkVYuISTbdk

Clean coal sounds the same to me as Clean diesel.