While China is currently moving ahead with a national carbon market covering large emitters, an ongoing question remains whether and how the country might also directly restrict the use of coal to tackle the triple threat of air pollution, climate change and energy insecurity. One option under discussion involves imposing limits on the use of coal or on all fossil fuels at the national or regional levels. A new study by researchers at the MIT Joint Program on the Policy of Global Change, Tsinghua University, and ETH Zurich examines this option in detail.