It's a massive problem. In India and China alone there are over 3 million deaths attributed to air pollution (https://www.usnews.com/news/best-countries/articles/2017-11-09/air-pollution-kills-the-most-people-in-these-countries). Economists, that dismal science call it an externalization or something like that. Basically the cost of your business is externalized, that is socialized in that the tax payers pay the cost whilst the industry reaps the profits - sounds familiar?
When China started to close down rare earth mines there was an enormous outcry in the Western media. They said pretty soon you won't be able to buy a phone or a computer thanks to China (fear). They cast doubt on the reliability of supplies (uncertainty and doubt). And they played on the name rare because you were meant to believe on China has them (misinformation).
The reality is rare earths are one of the most abundant mineral in the entire earth's crust. The name rare was simply a description of how much of the minerals were present. Not much, so hence the name rare. In order to mine rare earths accordingly it takes vast swathes of land that could be otherwise used for arable purposes. If topsoil isn't stockpiled properly - which again takes up a lot of space, it will simply be destroyed. If water isn't regularly tested and monitored before it's allowed to be released it will pollute everything downstream.
So China, not out of wanting to be a good global nation finally realized that if they can't feed their own people they wouldn't have much power anymore. The obvious thing to do was to can rare earths. Almost the same for coal. I laugh out loud when I hear people praising China for their green initiatives. They are literally doing it for their own survival. The amount of arable land is something like 2 squared meters per capita.
Going a bit off topic here but all this bullshit about China becoming a superpower is the media wanting you to think that. Their first attempt at building an aircraft carrier was a farce. There is a good reason they are encroaching on the little isles that are in the international seaways. It's a trial balloon and the West should address this immediately. The moment China faces economic sanctions all their power evaporates.
Anyhow sorry for such a long post, and pretty much off topic. We are pretty much all paying for the vested interests in fossil fuels to get the most return on their capital. It's infuriating, you might watch a BP ad and think you're watching a Greenpeace ad. Both organizations I equally despise btw.