Not surprising at all, considering that Western nations have been leading the walk on the path of technical development, from discovering the benefits of things like coal, to the discovery of downsides of things like coal. Therefore I would call this comparison anachronistic in the literal sense.
One can of course always say that developing nations have a right to emit just because rich 1st world countries emitted in the past. But the outcome of this is huge emissions. And China is building a lot of coal.
In any case, I don't expect the efforts to limit CO2 emissions to make much difference globally. Coal that can be easily burned will be burned. What we need to concentrate on is how we are going to deal with it.
One can of course always say that developing nations have a right to emit just because rich 1st world countries emitted in the past. But the outcome of this is huge emissions. And China is building a lot of coal.
In any case, I don't expect the efforts to limit CO2 emissions to make much difference globally. Coal that can be easily burned will be burned. What we need to concentrate on is how we are going to deal with it.