I wasn't saying that Copenhagen was an example of how the US is great and China is bad. But it seems that right now the US is more aligned (selfishly) with cut

I wasn't saying that Copenhagen was an example of how the US is great and China is bad. But it seems that right now the US is more aligned (selfishly) with cutting pollution then China is. It is directly against China's immediate interest to cut pollution. If roles were reversed the US would behave in a very similar fashion. It's ironic because, in all the world, I can't think of a place where cutting pollution is more against a countries best interest then in China. China has the largest population in the world and would need to be many times more "green" then the US to make a positive impact. As it stands now, being green does not lend itself to fast economic growth. Any restriction on Chinese pollution would necessarily result in it's people suffering the consequences of slower growth. I hope that altruism can prevail all around, but I have little faith that it will.