Opinion | Xi Thinks China Can Slow Climate Change. What if He’s Right?

4 comments

1. [here’s a link to the article without a paywall.](https://u.osu.edu/mclc/2024/04/19/xi-thinks-china-can-slow-climate-change/)

   A lot of the article seems kinda whiney to me, but I think its just the overly pro-american rhetoric. Beyond all the fluff the main point of the article is basically that china is making large scale long term investments in electric cars, solar panels, wind turbines, etc. And that means that for the rest of the world outside of the usa china has become the global leader for renewable tech.

   The extent to which chinese led green energy projects do end up impacting the severity of the climate crisis remains to be seen but petty geopolitical rivalries really pale in comparison to what climate change is already doing to the world.

   Doing something is better than doing nothing, and if china is the country to do something then I applaud it.

2. I mean, if any one human has the power to make a difference, it’s him.

3. Ok, I’m howling at “Communist-sounding slogans like ‘ecological civilization.’” I needed a good laugh today, so thank you! 

   This one’s also a hoot: “From the American neoliberal economic viewpoint, a state-led push like this might seem illegitimate or even unfair. The state, with its subsidies and political directives, is making decisions that are better left to the markets, the thinking goes.” Today I learned that America does not subsidize fossil fuels nor clean energy, nor does America have an agency that creates political directives to protect the environment. Nor has it done these things on some scale or another for decades.

   “But China’s leaders have their own calculations, which prioritize stability decades from now over shareholder returns today.” Translation: Wall Street cares more about profit than human welfare. The oil company CEOs don’t care about us or the environment. Nice to hear it admitted by someone who thinks that “ecological civilization” sounds communistic.

   “President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, aimed at tackling climate change, has put the United States on a solid path toward carbon neutrality. But America’s decentralization and focus on private innovation means government policy cannot have quite the same impact that it can in China.” Wait, are you telling me that the US can subsidize renewable energy and create political directives via legislation? Who knew. Also, has this guy never heard of carbon pricing, the climate policy hailed by economists who support markets and decentralization? Or does carbon pricing also sound like communism? 

   Sorry for all the facetiousness. This guy makes some good points, and I agree with much of his analysis, but a lot of it sounds like he was writing for an audience of American caricatures. 

4. They sure can, stop burning fuel. They’re one of the biggest polluters so bad Cali gets their smog.