Giving Beijing Residents the Cold Shoulder

Well, hey!  Temperatures have plummeted and Beijing's central government refuses to turn the heat on for millions of freezing Chinese, but the some greeniacs at CBS News thinks this isn't all bad:

There is one silver -- or green -- lining to weeks of goose bumps. Beijing's power plants burn through 41,000 tons of coal every day to keep the city's residents warm in winter. That energy is saved each day the government keeps the radiators turned off.

So ... it's OK if millions of people are miserably shivering?  Helplessly and needlessly?  What about the health risks to the elderly, the infirm, the sick, or the children?  Ugh!  It's inhumane.  Part of me thinks there is a certain breed of greeniac out there who dreams of the day when a green tyranny can do this sort of thing to everybody.  In the name of saving the earth, of course.  I'll tell you what, though.  Ain't nobody gonna tell me if and when I can turn on the heat or air conditioning in my own apartment for which I pay my own (increasingly expensive) electricity bill, dammit.