China Announces Emissions Reduction Targets (But They’re Not Really Reductions) : TreeHugger:
Well, everyone has their cards on the table now. Following the US’s announcement yesterday that it will bring an emissions reductions target “in the range” of 17 percent of 2005 levels to Copenhagen, China has announced its own commitment: a 40-45 percent reduction of 2005 levels in what it calls “carbon intensity.” The pledge is being met with tepid acceptance.
So, what does “energy intensity” mean? It means China will reduce emissions relative to its GDP growth, meaning that its emissions will actually increase over time because its economy is expanding so rapidly. As the world’s Number 1 Polluter (but far down when it comes to per capita emissions), China’s goal is not enough.
Once again, the three Stooges of Climate change, (in alphabetical order, as always): China, India, and the US, are not exactly impressing the world with their commitments.
Of course, there will be no lack of people telling those like me who view these “commitments” as woefully inadequate that we simply don’t understand political realities. Let me make this so clear that even the most navel-staring apologist can’t misunderstand it:
I get it.
I know it’s mind-blowingly tough to get the kind of agreements in place that the climate scientists say we need.
I also know that the environment neither knows nor cares about our problems. It responds to the amount and effectiveness of various greenhouse gases we continue to dump into the atmosphere, with precisely zero alteration of that response due to which country emitted those gases or why they were emitted. We’re so good at deceiving each other and ourselves that we often forget that you can’t deceive reality.
While I’m in the topical neighborhood, let me address the big “us vs. them” issue of “developed” vs. “developing” nations. This debate is a toxic element in our ongoing climate change challenge, one that won’t go away soon or easily. The bottom line, as I’ve pointed out before, is that the Three Stooges of Climate Change can each blow the world’s remaining carbon budget, regardless of what other countries do. That’s the surest sign possible of how close we are to failure. China and India cannot follow in the filthy footsteps of the developed nations, and the US cannot continue with business as usual.
So my message to the politicians: Quit whining and find a way to crack this problem. The scientists, over many decades, have figured out to a very great extent how the environment works and, most important, how it responds to a swift, sharp shock, such as the hundreds of billions of metric tons of CO2 we’ve dumped into the atmosphere. Now it’s time for you to step up and figure out how to pull us back from the brink, even if it requires you to change the minds of, or even openly disobey, many of your own constituents.
As for the rest of us, we should have long ago demanded the same level of maturity and responsibility from politicians and our fellow consumers and voters that we expected (and got) from scientists. Luckily, it’s still not too late for all of us to change.
Related:
The three stooges of climate change
Africa faces changing climate – COP15 United Nations Climate Change Conference Copenhagen 2009
