Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said pollution is a major problem and the government will “‘declare war’’ on smog by removing high-emission cars from the road and closing coal-fired furnaces. Pollution is ‘‘nature’s red-light warning against the model of inefficient and blind development,’’ Li said today in his work report at the start of this year’s National People’s Congress in Beijing. ‘‘Fostering a sound ecological environment is vital for people’s lives and the future of our nation.” Li’s remarks, delivered in China’s equivalent of the U.S. president’s State of the Union address, reflect government recognition of public displeasure over pollution and its impact on people’s health. The weeks before the congress saw pollution stuck at unhealthy levels in much of northern China, prompting one government adviser to say smog had become “unbearable.” Choking China “It is a prolonged battle,” Environment Minister Zhou Shengxian told reporters at the National People’s Congress […]