Lignite contains several times more sulphur and ash, and five times more mercury, than black coal, and provides three times less energy. It also loosened restrictions on selling coal waste, which can be highly polluting, taking Poland back to the days before 2018, when the rules for coal were tightened to fight smog. In September, PiS leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski even told residents of Nowy Targ, the town with the lowest air quality in Poland in 2020, to burn pretty much whatever they wanted. Smog has been intense over the past days and we have a lot of children in need of intensive treatment," she said. COAL RUSHAbout 80% of the coal used by European Union citizens to heat homes is burned in Poland.

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