When China makes international news these days, it’s often because of its densely polluted air. The public health aspect of this story is usually front and center, while the global warming angle is somewhat muted. Still, there’s no getting around the climate implications of China’s reliance on coal. There are signs that China is trying to…Continue Reading…
So while American politicians and environmentalists slug it out over a proposed pipeline, China is stocking its rainy day shale and oil sands fund. Let’s start with the recent news out of Canada: China will take over full ownership over a Canadian oil sands project for the first time after Athabasca Oil Sands Corp announced…Continue Reading…
A China analyst advises that dethroning coal from its dominant position in China’s energy hierarchy will be exceptionally difficult, even assuming optimistic scenarios of deploying other energy sources. What does this realistic outlook imply? Therefore, it is imperative to simultaneously focus on developing clean coal and carbon technologies.
Would you trust a company that produced a report saying that 88 percent of Chinese citizens trusted its government? Global Voices reports that “many Chinese netizens” are incredulous of the survey’s finding, including this person who posted a comment on a Chinese blog: A mistake, the result should be 100%. Even prisoners in China trust…Continue Reading…
It’s good to see I’m not the only one bothered by it. Now this post–and President Obama’s speech on Tuesday–is the way to balance that admiration for China with some healthy perspective.
It just amazes me how some greens continue to entertain the notion that authoritarianism might be better for the future of humanity than democracy. Two years removed from a historic election, in which a black man was elected president of the world’s longest-lasting democratic government, try wrapping your mind around this question posed at Grist:…Continue Reading…
Bishop Hill latches on to this post, which catches up with a two-month old wet kiss to China from James Hansen, all which leads a Bish commenter to sarcastically (and rightly) note: The way China has become the “˜love-bunny’ of the greens is indeed funny, its human rights records is still awful, its building coal…Continue Reading…
There’s just something weird about this China envy that I keep hearing from liberal pundits and intellectuals. I’m still trying to wrap my mind around yesterday’s op-ed by Thomas Friedman, so I’m going to attempt to unpack it. Bear with me. Let’s start with Friedman’s opener: To visit China today as an American is to…Continue Reading…
I’m a little late to this Wired profile on Energy Secretary Steven Chu, since I just started reading the May issue last night. For hardcore Chu watchers, probably not much is new, but the piece by Daniel Roth is still worth a read, if only to be reminded that the battle against global warming is…Continue Reading…
UPDATE: Be sure to check out the comment thread, where a number of top environmental security experts weigh in. I bet you you think this is going to be a continuation of last week’s discussion. Nah. This week, I’ll be talking to scholars and experts who study the linkages between climate change, energy, and security….Continue Reading…