Washington and Beijing Talk the Talk, Now Must Learn to Walk

They're the world's two biggest national economies and the world's two biggest emitters of greenhouse gases.  It's encouraging then that the United States and China have announced an agreement to "accelerate action to reduce greenhouse gases by advancing cooperation on technology, research, conservation, and alternative and renewable energy."

Their joint statement goes to the heart of climate change denialism and drives a stake right through it. In a joint and quite powerful statement on the dangers of climate change, the two sides said they “consider that the overwhelming scientific consensus regarding climate change constitutes a compelling call to action crucial to having a global impact on climate change.”

The two sides state that manmade climate change is having “worsening impacts, including the sharp rise in global average temperatures over the past century, the alarming acidification of our oceans, the rapid loss of Arctic sea ice, and the striking incidence of extreme weather events occurring all over the world.”

Alden Meyer, spokesperson for the influential Union of Concerned Scientist in the United States, said the agreement “is potentially a very significant development, coming as it does from the world’s two biggest economies and greenhouse gas emitters.”

Their sentiments are in the right place but it remains unclear how they will translate those into effective action.   China, for example, seems tied to plans to build many hundreds of new, coal-fired power plants.   The United States has Congressional Republicans, with the assistance of some Democrats, all too eager to thwart any steps to decarbonize America's economy.   And what of the Keystone XL bitumen pipeline to transmit a river of bitumen into the U.S.?   What of the Northern Gateway and Kinder Morgan pipelines to transmit even more bitumen to China?

 

In the world that Beijing and Washington seemingly envision, how can there be any place for coal or other high-carbon fossil fuels such as Athabasca bitumen?  Surely the "alternative and renewable energy" options must be targeted at eliminating consumption of the most environmentally unviable fossil fuels.

The joint statement is certainly encouraging but it remains to be seen what it may become in practice.