Monday, January 28, 2008

The Blame Game

In my last post, I bemoaned the persistent scapegoating of China in US climate policy.  This approach is not only unproductive, it's especially inappropriate in light of China's emerging commitment to conservation.  As ksharp commented, China will ban the free distribution of plastic bags in June, a major accomplishment for a nation that currently uses up to 3-billion plastic bags daily.  Last June, China unveiled a national climate plan. And Chinese wind power productivity doubled in 2006 alone.

That's not to say that the US hasn't made any improvements in this area.  The new Energy Bill raises automobile fuel efficiency standards for the first time in 32 years.  It also effectively eliminates the incandescent lightbulb within the decade.  But before we get too smug, we should pause for a moment to consider China's progress in these areas. 
 China manufactures 80% of the world's compact fluorescent lightbulbs.  And what of that 35 mpg CAFÉ standard we're so excited about?  China's fleet-wide efficiency will reach 36.7 mpg next year.

 And while many (including myself), hail the US Energy Bill as a major accomplishment, the final bill lacked many of the safeguards we hoped for.  Most notably, the bill's accomplishments came with the sacrifice of a proposed Renewable Electricity Standard, which would have required 15 percent of US electricity to be produced by renewables by 2030.  Yet China already obtains 17 percent of its electricity from renewables – and that number is projected to increase to 21 percent by 2020. 

That's not to say that China is perfect.  Certainly, I'm wary of our ability to truly combat climate change without having firm commitments from a nation with 1.3 billion people. I'm also worried about China's construction of an average of one new dirty coal-fired power plant each week.  But while we may still want to occasionally point a finger at China, we should also have the commonsense to use our hands to applaud its accomplishments.

[For more on China's accomplishments in this area, read the comprehensive analysis by the Worldwatch Institute, Powering China's Development: The Role of Renewable Energy or visit China Watch.]
 


[PS: Last week, Whole Foods announced that it, too, will be eliminating plastic bags this spring!]
Posted by Jennifer at 21:09:33 | Permanent Link | Comments (4) |

Tuesday, January 08, 2008

Not Free To Desist

By now it's become a familiar refrain: the U.S. shouldn't make any serious commitments to address global warming until China gets on board.  This rhetoric nearly sabotaged the Bali Climate Change Conference last month. In the end, the U.S. succeeded at watering down the final agreement, convincing the European nations to forego a commitment from the developed world for concrete emissions reductions in favor of an agreement that simply talks about cuts instead. [For more on our role as an international bully, see my December 26 post].

 I understand the instinct that drives this position. After all, the 2008 Climate Change Performance Index  ranks China near the bottom in a survey of 56 nations.  China contributes more than 15% of the world's CO2 emissions – and it is slated to overtake the U.S. as the single largest emitter.  Yet, for all of our talk about China, the U.S. fares much worse in the Performance Index.  In fact, China is ranked 40th (out of 56 nations).  The United States is ranked 55, “out -performed” by only Saudi Arabia.  The Performance Index credits China’s recent advancements on climate change, improving its rankings from previous years because of “China’s serious efforts to enhance energy efficiency and promote renewable energies as well as the recognizable turnaround in national climate and environmental policy within the last two years.”  The Worldwatch Institute examines these efforts in great detail in its recent report (“Powering China’s Development: The Role of Renewable Energy”).

There is no doubt that we won't be able to solve the climate crisis without China's cooperation. But the United States cannot wait for the Chinese to take action. It turns out, the Jewish tradition has something to say about this.  Pirkei Avot teaches: "It is not incumbent upon you to finish the task. Yet, you are not free to desist from it." These words ring true today: a China-less response will not be the final answer to climate change, but that doesn't absolve us of our responsibilities.
Posted by Jennifer at 10:24:12 | Permanent Link | Comments (3) |