The US left a hole in leadership on climate. China is filling it.

[bronxiteforever]

China is making greater and faster strides than expected away from fossil fuels.
Politico.eu
By LUIZA CH. SAVAGE 8/17/19, 4:35 PM CET Updated 8/17/19, 4:37 PM CET

Often considered the bogeyman of global climate diplomacy, China is making greater and faster strides than expected away from fossil fuels — becoming the world’s largest investor in solar and wind technology and boasting more jobs in solar energy than in coal-mining. It’s all part of a longterm economic strategy to dominate in critical technologies.

The torrid pace and unprecedented scale of China’s investments in clean energy are driven in part by local concerns about toxic air quality. China remains the world’s leading emitter of greenhouse gases, accounting for roughly 30 percent of global carbon dioxide pollution.

But the moves are giving China a growing leadership role on the world stage — precisely at a time when Washington’s voice is becoming less relevant thanks to President Donald Trump’s announced plan to withdraw the U.S. from the Paris climate agreement, according to interviews with POLITICO’s Global Translations podcast.

...China is responsible for a third of wind turbines and solar panels in the world — and its investments have had the side effect of driving down the global price of solar and wind technologies by nearly three-quarters in the last decade...

https://www.politico.eu/article/us-china-climate-renewable-energy-sustainability-leadership-investment/

[Duppers]

1. K & R

[Mike 03]

2. It's important that our trade war not wreck their economy

This is really good news. On the other hand, didn't a DUer post a week or two ago that China has given approvals for something like 40 new coal plants? The article pointed out that this was a really high number for China at this time, partly because of their commitment to combating global warming. Maybe they were trying to send a message to the U.S. and other countries to back off.

[progree]

3. Yes, or I saw that somewhere recently, but I haven't taken the time to find it

didn't a DUer post a week or two ago that China has given approvals for something like 40 new coal plants? The article pointed out that this was a really high number for China at this time,

China is a very mixed picture -- yeah their renewables are going way up, but so is their total energy use and coal and other fossil fuels consumption,