China 2 Still Burn More Oil Than Aladdin’s Lamp

One of the biggest bugaboos behind the Paris Climate Accord was that it assumed the US would soon spend trillions on pollution controls while China, India & others promised to also be good one of these days. Enter WSJ’s “China’s Ambitious Climate Goals Collide With Reality.” As the authors noted, “Beijing commits to net-zero [carbon] emissions before 2060, but for years to come it will continue burning a lot of coal” ala Aladdin’s Lamp “to keep its economy charging ahead.”

The UN environmental scientists might wink at the relative pollution “culpability” of the world’s nations, but is THE world’s largest greenhouse gas polluter to be taken seriously as it heads to Glasgow for more climate talks next week? For the first time, we’re told, the PRC will “promise to take major steps to wean itself off fossil fuels” until that net-zero emissions goal is met by 2060. Yet, even the Communists admit its carbon emissions will continue to rise before “peaking sometime before 2030.” Revealingly, the authors suggest “the world’s No. 2 economy is so large and still growing so quickly that it might not be technically possible, let alone politically palatable, for the country’s leaders to move faster.”

Huh? It might be technically & politically impossible for China to make good on its pollution promises, but it’s possible for the US to do so? Is this familiar Communist promises gamesmanship sort of like the US asking the North Koreans “when exactly will you give up your nuclear weapons program?” If so, the right answer might be “maybe never, really.”

Davd Soul