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China Says West Should Deal With Warming
China seems to prefer espionage over development. It's cheaper! This sort of fits the pattern. The lame excuses and mercurial logic here make my head spin, but it's good to know what kind of mindset you are up against sometimes.China insisted Friday the U.S. and other wealthy nations should bear the burden of curbing global warming, saying the problem was created by their lavish way of life. It rejected mandatory emission cuts for its own developing industries. Environmental activists, meanwhile, labeled the United States and Saudi Arabia the worst "climate sinners," accusing them of having inadequate polices for climate problems while letting greenhouse gas emissions rise. But the activists also said no country is doing enough.
You have an opportunity to get in on the ground floor. Do it as much as is reasonable. He said the United States and its fellow industrial nations have long spewed greenhouse gases into the atmosphere while newly emerging economies have done so for only a few decades. Yeah, and you also have examples to follow and the benefit of modern understandings. That means you have no excuses as the US and other economies that did the trailblazing do. "China is in the process of industrialization and there is a need for economic growth to meet the basic needs of the people and fight against poverty," Su said. You'll find that more fuel-efficient stuff may actually help you meet your stated goals. And how will polluting the crap out of your environment help meet your future goals? There are those out there who can help, and I'll bet you can find an unemployed worker or two million who would be happy to help you set up and work at some facilities to help keep things clean. While many experts believe China has surpassed the United States as the world's top emitter of carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases, Su noted the Chinese population is far bigger and said America's emissions per person are six times higher than in China. And if your economy grows as you expect, what then? Nip it now! "I think there is much room for the United States to think whether it's possible to change (its) lifestyle and consumption patterns in order to contribute to the protection of the global climate," he said. China is one of nearly 190 nations participating in the Dec. 3-14 conference, which is intended to launch negotiations on a new climate treaty to replace the 1997 Kyoto Protocol when it expires in 2012. That tells me how serious you are and how much weight we need to give to the Kyoto Accords, doesn't it? The Kyoto pact, which was rejected by the United States, commits three dozen industrial countries that signed on to cut emissions by an average of 5 percent below 1990 levels over the next five years. One of the factors that led President Bush to reject Kyoto was that it didn't require any cuts by fast-developing countries like China, India and Brazil.
The environmental watchdog Germanwatch said Friday that China moved up four spots, to No. 40, on the group's annual ranking of the climate performance of 56 industrialized and emerging countries. Germanwatch said Beijing has enacted policies promoting renewable energy, including mandates that solar, wind and hydroelectric systems provide 10 percent of China's power by 2010. It also ordered key industries to reduce energy consumption by 20 percent, the group said. Won't happen, but it seems that China doesn't have much capacity but is growing in leaps and bounds. Doesn't that mean that they should be able to have mostly modern stuff in another 20 years or so? Saudi Arabia was listed as last among the 56 nations, right below the United States. The group said Saudi Arabia, the world's largest oil exporter, was the biggest "climate sinner" for the second year in a row because its emissions are rising and it has no firm policies to address that.
They're worrying more about what the mouth is saying than what the hand is doing, I see. Australia was listed as third-worst offender, but with a caveat: It could rise to No. 20 on the list if new Prime Minister Kevin Rudd follows through with promises to reduce emissions after signing the Kyoto Protocol this week. "Australia will have to live up to their talk," said Matthias Duwe of Climate Action Network-Europe, which released the list. Sweden was ranked as doing the best job, followed by Germany, Iceland and Mexico. A news release from Germanwatch praised Mexico for making progress in reducing emissions and adopting a "constructive international and national climate policy." What about Zimbabwe? Environmentalists said European nations as a group have made the most progress on the climate issue, but complained that is doing enough to address global warming. "The international community is still failing to comply with their responsibilities regarding climate protection," Duwe said. "They have not set themselves firmly on the path of limiting global warming."
Posted by: gorb 2007-12-08 |
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