China
Riding the Energy Efficiency Wave
At the “Beyond Copenhagen Conference” at Berkeley yesterday, one of the clear messages was that energy efficiency is one of the most feasible routes forward on climate change. Energy efficiency has great interest not only to U.S. consumers, but also to countries like China that are concerned about energy security. The energy security issue is …
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CONTINUE READINGThankful for U.S., China News on Climate?
After yesterday’s news that Obama will attend the international climate talks in Copenhagen and commit to near term targets (discussed by Cara here and Dan here) we’re greeted today with the news that China’s prime minister Wen Jiabao will attend and commit to reductions in the greenhouse gas emissions intensity of China’s economy. China’s commitment …
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CONTINUE READINGChina’s Problems, Our Problems
President Obama’s trip to China (noted here yesterday by Dan Farber) refocused world attention on China’s mushrooming contributions to global warming. Many have declared that China has eclipsed the United States as the number one emitter of greenhouse gases, and it is evident that its emissions grow by the day. Perhaps the most devastating examples …
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CONTINUE READINGEverything You Always Wanted to Know About China But Were Afraid to Ask
As President Obama heads to China, the World Resource Institute has launched a very interesting new website devoted to China, energy, and climate change. The chart above is an example of the kind of information on the website. Notice for example the important role of manufacturing emissions on the Chinese side versus transportation emissions on …
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CONTINUE READINGChina, Congress and Climate Change
This week brings two related and interesting stories on the prospects for domestic climate change legislation and progress in Copenhagen when the international community gathers in December to try to hammer out a post-Kyoto treaty on climate change. The first is that China’s top climate negotiator is “optimistic” that the international community will reach agreement on …
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CONTINUE READINGBad News for Climate Reductions, Troubling Prospects for Copenhagen
President Obama’s failure at the G-8 summit to get the largest developing countries to agree to set goals to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 was only one piece of bad news this week for efforts to attack global warming. Although the House of Representatives narrowly passed the Waxman-Markey bill last week, prospects in the …
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CONTINUE READINGCould Obama have wrung China climate concessions from Hu in Italy? We’ll never know
Jonathan’s recent post about the intersection of religion and environmentalism failed to foreshadow the most important way in which religion may have impacted environmental policymaking this week: by scuttling key climate talks associated with the G8 meeting in Italy. As reported here, the meeting succeeded in securing a pledge from G8 nations to reduce their …
CONTINUE READINGWho will pay for the costs of foreign carbon dioxide in our consumer goods?
I discussed in this post the problem of GHG emissions from imported consumer products. We import and buy more and more goods from China and other countries that rely heavily on greenhouse gas-intensive coal-fired power. As a result, our consumer habits are responsible for a large and growing proportion of GHG emissions in other countries. These …
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CONTINUE READINGChina and Climate Change
In a recent lecture at Berkeley, Orville Schell discussed the attitudes of Chinese leaders toward climate change. One significant factor is the increased understanding of how vulnerable China’s water supply is to climatic changes on the Tibetan Plateau, which is a key source of water for 2 billion Asians. The speech includes some remarkable photos …
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CONTINUE READINGTwo Cheers for Clean Coal
I think it’s terrific that the Coen Brothers are making funny, effective ads against relying on “clean coal” as part of the US energy program. But I worry that the clean energy community is really missing the boat here. Clean coal research and development is absolutely crucial in fighting climate change not for us, but …
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