RE:RE:Rex Murphy: The Liberals are out to lunch on high gas prices Spoken like a naive westerner
China doesn't have a balanced energy plan, china is pursuing the lowest cost plan as they are aiming to overtake the west at the west own's stuipidity. That's their plan. Forging energy tie with russia is only because of western's (NATO) doing. It was long believed western oil/gas is less political risk than OPEC and other authoritarian regimes, not anymore. Hence why CNOOC want to unload their oil/gas holding in america and canada now. If securing cheap and secure energy anyway they can, well, you can call it a balanced way if you wish
China saw the opportunity to dominate the solar and EV because they have most of 90% of world raw material, cheap slave labor, and lax environmental law to feed the western demand as the west is jumping both feet into renewables. China solar panel are made from coal generated power.
Shanghai (you forgot beijing) banned motocycle, scooters not because of pollution, they did it so shanghai (and beijing) look modern and metropolis, no sight of poor peasant on scooters. If the ban was for environmental reason, why do they also ban ELECTRIC scooters too? Rich chinese driving expensive german cars don't like scooters darting around.
Beijing and Shanghai ban electric scooters and segways on roads - BBC News
On per capita basis, US and Canada is still 2X of china's only because china has lots of people living in poverty and rural area. On a total GHG emission basis, China pollutes more than US, Canada, Germany, Australia, S. Korean, etc etc COMBINED
yes, the west had been brainwashed with green soap but the chinese (in china) are brainwashed with red soap
Experienced wrote: Nor sure what the right word is but "curiously", while China may not be signing on the Western agreements regarding climate change, they are in fact doing more than the West but in a balanced way.
Part of their ability to do so is due to that fact they have a dictatorship form of Government and instead of zealots they have pragmatic leaders who are prepared to take their time and get but right.
So why do I say "balanced"?
On the one hand they are securing future supplies of oil and gas primarily from Russia so they will have enough supply during the transition. While this is going on they are going to build a significant number of nuclear power generating plants (the West?....you guessed it...none). They are also significantly expanding their renewable energy sources and in fact most of the world's supply of solar panels are made in China.
On top of all this, they have banned gas engines in things like motorcycles in a number of cities such as Shanghai.
The end result IMO is that China will be able to move to a lower carbon intensive society without running into the disruptions that the West will face based on the push by the zealots.
The difference between the West and China is that in the West, the zealots seems to think all you need to do is flick a switch and everything will work out, whereas in China they know the transition will take time and all members of the orchestra need to playing the same tune.