All that said: China still has the most reasonable climate policy. IMO.
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All that said: China still has the most reasonable climate policy. IMO.
They are pushing renewables, so that they have the most capacity in wind and solar in the world, greater than the rest of the developed world combined. They also have a big nuclear program, up to around 20 new nuclear power stations planned. And at the same time they do plan more coal-powered stations in places that need baseload electricity until they can be fully renewable or nuclear. They say they don’t want people suffering because of energy shortages.
This strikes me as a sane, doable, policy. Not at all like the near insanity in some other countries. Like Germany. And, now, Australia.
Also: we must remember that one of the reasons for the massive increases in CO2 emissions by China is that a lot of western manufacturing moved to China, not just for its cheaper labour, but also to shift CO2 emissions off their own books. Which is why there’s a push to have the totality of country’s CO2 emissions counted, including what they’ve shifted offshore.
ADDED: I’ve occasionally said the same thing in Australia: namely that whatever Australia does is irrelevant. The TOTAL of Australia’s emissions are just ONE YEAR of China’s increase. But that observation is about as popular as a fart in an elevator. People just do not like to be told that all their virtue-sacrifices are irrelevant.
