China’s plans for 169 new and expanded coal projects could boost global methane emissions from mines that produce the dirtiest fossil fuel by 10% and jeopardize its own short-term climate targets, according to a new analysis. The projects under development would nearly double China’s original targeted increase in domestic output, according to a report from Global Energy Monitor released Tuesday. President Xi Jinping is deepening China’s dependence on coal as a way to mitigate the impact of soaring energy prices and geopolitical instability created by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Beijing has said it’s shutting smaller, less efficient mines and replacing them with more efficient operations and that it will begin phasing down its coal production after 2025. But China is expanding mines faster than it’s closing them and if that doesn’t change it will be much harder for the country to meet climate goals like curbing methane emissions from […]