A new report says that China has already surpassed the US as the world's largest emitter of greenhouse gases. On a per capita basis, however, Chinese people only account for 1/8th as much as their western counterparts.
It's interesting to me that in an article like this, the environmentalist response is that yes, Beijing has to do more to curtail emissions, but "responsibility also lies in Washington and Brussels and Tokyo..." I don't think you'd ever hear a criticism of American government policy include a disclaimer that you'd also have to consider Caracas and Teheran and Pyongyang culpable.
Still, it makes you wonder if there is more that western foreign policy could do to help China manage their growth more responsibly. For example, could the US offer aid to China to pay the difference between what it costs them to build two coal-powered energy plants a week and the cost of building nuclear plants instead? Wouldn't that kind of aid go a long way in building friendlier relations and help the environment at the same time?
Here are a few more amazing stats about China's growth from the article:
"China's emissions have outpaced predictions because the economy has grown faster than expected. With construction booming, China produces an estimated 44% of the world's cement, Olivier said. And with its factories' fuel needs rising, China has been completing construction of coal-fired power plants at a rate of about two a week.
"In the next eight years, the International Energy Agency estimates, China will build as many power plants as exist today in all of the European Union countries. Birol said the West needs to find incentives to help China invest in cleaner forms of energy than coal, because when coal plants come on line, they generally last decades."
