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Sunday, November 20th, 2016

China Takes the Climate Spotlight as U.S. Heads for Exit

Author:     Jean Chemnick
Source:     Scientific American/Climatewire
Publication Date:     November 18, 2016
Link: China Takes the Climate Spotlight as U.S. Heads for Exit
Stephan:   I did not agree with President Obama about a number of things; but he was so obviously a dignified and honorable man, that I never had any doubt that he had an historical sense and meant to do as well as he could for the United States. You can see this most clearly in the relationship between the U.S. and China under Obama's leadership. And in this report you can also see what America's abdication of leadership after President Obama is going to mean. Donald Trump is making what I think will be seen as one of the great political blunders in human history. This kind of myopic failure that has happened as an historical cycle. Trump's climate blindness is a bigger version of the decision of the Etruscan city states, in the face of growing threats, not to become a federation. That led to their being overpowered as a culture in the in the 3rd-2nd centuries.  

MARRAKECH, Morocco—The election of Donald Trump as president of the United States has the world holding out for a climate hero, and parties here are determined that it be China.

The world’s largest greenhouse gas emitter and second-largest economy is not backing away from the challenge—or the Paris Agreement, as Trump has vowed to do.

Xie Zhenhua, China’s top special envoy, reiterated yesterday that his country’s stance on the climate deal will “remain the same and unchanged,” no matter what the world’s other economic superpower chooses to do.

“China will fulfill and honor its commitments to the Paris Agreement,” he said.

That’s been the Chinese message throughout the U.N. conference that concludes today in this imperial desert town. Participants here, still reeling from last week’s news that the United States has elected a president who plans to cancel or renegotiate Paris, have warned that China’s steadfastness will place America at a competitive advantage economically and politically if Trump doesn’t recant.

“One of the risks that I think the Trump administration needs to consider is the risk that China will become a global leader in this new technology, which is market-driven, and the Americans will be left behind,” said Leon Charles, a former veteran negotiator from […]

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2 Comments

  1. Steven K Hovland on Sunday, November 20, 2016 at 8:14 am

    As I recall, Obama’s deal with the Chinese gave them 50 years to stabilize their output of greenhouse gases. That’s an easy deal to stick to.

    • Stephan Schwartz on Sunday, November 20, 2016 at 5:45 pm

      The Chinese have realized that they can save billions in health costs by getting out of carbon energy, also that by emphasizing non-carbon energy technologies they will become the world leaders and make trillions more, as well as finding employment for millions of Chinese. Meanwhile the Trumnp administration is going in the opposite direction, blathering on about bringing coal back, and pushing fracking. It is going to be an historically important bad move.