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> China is doing more to combat global warming than is any other nation What? The west is working hard at lowering it's emissions, but all that work is gettin

> China is doing more to combat global warming than is any other nation What? The west is working hard at lowering it's emissions, but all that work is getting undone because China's emissions aren't slowing down. Coal is incredibly cheap when there's no carbon tax or emission standards. One of the many reasons it's cheaper to manufacture in China and why North Americans and Europeans can't compete [0]. Comparing the US[1] and China[2], the US has: - Decreasing per capita emissions in the US starting in 1973 (-27%) - A decrease in the countries emission starting in 2007 (-13%) Meanwhile for the same period China has had - a 7x increase per capita since 1973 (+532%) - 48% increase for its global emissions since 2007 So it is possible to drastically reduce our carbon footprint thanks to innovation and smarter power generation. Time to add tariffs on goods produced by states who made the decision of going all-in on polluting power generation, and potentially apply immigration quotas to citizens of these countries. [0] https://www.cnbc.com/2019/11/26/us-leads-greenhouse-gas-emissions-on-a-per-capita-basis-report-finds.html https://www.cnbc.com/2019/11/26/us-leads-greenhouse-gas-emis... [1] https://ourworldindata.org/co2/country/united-states https://ourworldindata.org/co2/country/united-states [2] https://ourworldindata.org/co2/country/china https://ourworldindata.org/co2/country/china

intrasight 3y ago
For sure China is a huge problem with their use of coal. But they do have a plan, and a command economy that let's them execute on that plan. I am fully in favor of the kind of "fair trade" that would force countries to eat their environmental externalities. In the case of China, it's a double-win since it would put huge pressure on them to change and also more than fund all of our environmental initiatives. But without a global carbon tax/credit system, this just ain't gonna happen.
reisse 3y ago
Your comparison between China and US from 1973 to now is fundamentally wrong. In 1970s, US already was a developed country, while China was barely rising from poverty. It's unfair when the western countries demand lowering emissions from the third world. West was able to enjoy unlimited carbon emissions for years, while the third world was mostly agricultural and had poorly developed economies. Now, when other countries undergo the same economic transformations US had long time ago, Americans demand them to ditch progress for the sake of preventing climate change. And that's while outsourcing "dirty" manufacturing and waste management to the same third world countries.
- 908B64B197 3y ago
  > Now, when other countries undergo the same economic transformations US had long time ago Here's the thing: they don't have to make all the same mistakes we made. Wind and solar was science fiction in the 70's and is economically feasible today yet China choose to go all-in with the dirtiest coal on the planet.
  - seanmcdirmid 3y ago
    Uhm, if you don’t think China is investing heavily in solar and wind generation, then you are in for a very big surprise. It’s just that with NG going up so much recently, they are leaning on coal heavily again so their economy doesn’t crash, long term they have a good direction set with renewables, better probably than the USA. And it’s all due to economic self interest and survival that they are doing renewables so aggressively, it has nothing to do with perceived fairness or whatever.

intrasight 3y ago

For sure China is a huge problem with their use of coal. But they do have a plan, and a command economy that let's them execute on that plan. I am fully in favor of the kind of "fair trade" that would force countries to eat their environmental externalities. In the case of China, it's a double-win since it would put huge pressure on them to change and also more than fund all of our environmental initiatives. But without a global carbon tax/credit system, this just ain't gonna happen.

reisse 3y ago

Your comparison between China and US from 1973 to now is fundamentally wrong. In 1970s, US already was a developed country, while China was barely rising from poverty. It's unfair when the western countries demand lowering emissions from the third world. West was able to enjoy unlimited carbon emissions for years, while the third world was mostly agricultural and had poorly developed economies. Now, when other countries undergo the same economic transformations US had long time ago, Americans demand them to ditch progress for the sake of preventing climate change. And that's while outsourcing "dirty" manufacturing and waste management to the same third world countries.

908B64B197 3y ago
> Now, when other countries undergo the same economic transformations US had long time ago Here's the thing: they don't have to make all the same mistakes we made. Wind and solar was science fiction in the 70's and is economically feasible today yet China choose to go all-in with the dirtiest coal on the planet.
- seanmcdirmid 3y ago
  Uhm, if you don’t think China is investing heavily in solar and wind generation, then you are in for a very big surprise. It’s just that with NG going up so much recently, they are leaning on coal heavily again so their economy doesn’t crash, long term they have a good direction set with renewables, better probably than the USA. And it’s all due to economic self interest and survival that they are doing renewables so aggressively, it has nothing to do with perceived fairness or whatever.