Global warming – the China problem
It’s fascinating to see how Chinese officials are becoming obsessed with energy efficiency and global warming. It worries some in America, as we see China making the investments in clean energy we should be making. In a competitive world, America should be leading the green revolution and thus creating new jobs. While the Obama administration has made great progress, Republicans and Midwest Senators are standing in the way of a new energy bill.
Meanwhile, climate activists fear the impact of China, but have to be somewhat please that Chinese officials are being proactive.
Premier Wen Jiabao has promised to use an “iron hand” this summer to make his nation more energy efficient. The central government has ordered cities to close inefficient factories by September, like the vast Guangzhou Steel mill here, where most of the 6,000 workers will be laid off or pushed into early retirement.
Already, in the last three years, China has shut down more than a thousand older coal-fired power plants that used technology of the sort still common in the United States. China has also surpassed the rest of the world as the biggest investor in wind turbines and other clean energy technology. And it has dictated tough new energy standards for lighting and gas mileage for cars.
That said, China may be fighting a losing battle. As millions of Chinese citizens become real consumers, they will gobble up even more energy. It’s great for the world economy, but terrible from a climate perspective.
Aspiring to a more Western standard of living, in many cases with the government’s encouragement, China’s population, 1.3 billion strong, is clamoring for more and bigger cars, for electricity-dependent home appliances and for more creature comforts like air-conditioned shopping malls.
As a result, China is actually becoming even less energy efficient. And because most of its energy is still produced by burning fossil fuels, China’s emission of carbon dioxide — a so-called greenhouse gas — is growing worse. This past winter and spring showed the largest six-month increase in tonnage ever by a single country.
It’s a real dilemma, but perhaps it will motivate the Chinese, and hopefully the American government, to do even more. Green energy can be the fuel that the world economy needs. It can also ease world security in the long run by making all of us less dependent on sending billions to volatile regions of the world. So it’s good to see the Chinese get religion on green energy. Let’s hope it helps fuel a worldwide movement.
You people are total douchebags. Really? Green “creates” jobs? Have you even looked a Spain? They’ve LOST jobs because of all of the green crap that is there.
“Green” power destabilizes the energy grid. What does this mean to goofballs like you who post crap on the internet? When you turn on the switch, it may not be there.
Damn I hate you freakin’ stoopid environmentalists that don’t know anything.
You say that ” China making the investments in clean energy we should be making”. Did you know that China’s economy is 5x bigger than ours, with no to very little pollution control?
The biggest reason that the “evil republicans” are fighting the new energy bill is because it will destroy the coal mining industry. Here in America we have around 70% of the worlds coal. Not only that but that commodity employees several thousand people. Not just the miners, but the transporters, the repair people, the people who make the mining equipment, the people who inspect the miners/mines to make sure they are up to code and safe.
Now lets think about the income that these people make, given that most of the coal is in the midwest, and the taxes this income pays. Not everybody sits behind a desk for their income.
As far as the statement about China leading the world in development and implementation of clean energy methods, good for them. If you have an old junk car its easy to trade up for a new one because well the old car has been with you for a good long while. if you have one that is only a few years old and you are still paying on then it makes sense to keep with it until you at least have it paid off before you go further into debt.
Much of the coal burning power plants in America are still in highly functioning order. And I would be willing to bet that many have had upgrades to meet the more stringent pollution laws passed recently.
So while you’re cutting out the income of the coal miners, you might as well cut off the legs of the power infrastructure by mandating that they are now obsolete and must convert to newer green methods.
Quixotically, the author is critical that our government is not doing enough, while extolling the actions of a government that does not allow criticism of it. I wonder if the author of this article knows the difference between communism & capitalist economies. Apparently, the author wants a leader with an “iron hand” to mandate private sector entities to endeavor in green technologies. Regardless if the are profitable or not.
Your point of view caught my eye and was very interesting. Thanks. I have a question for you.
Your article helped me a lot, is there any more related content? Thanks!
I don’t think the title of your article matches the content lol. Just kidding, mainly because I had some doubts after reading the article.