China Set To Exceed US

In the emission of greenhouse gases.

Far more than previously acknowledged, the battle against global warming will be won or lost in China, even more so than in the West, new data show.

A report released last week by Beijing authorities indicated that as its economy continues to expand at a red-hot pace, China is highly likely to overtake the United States this year or in 2008 as the world's largest emitter of greenhouse gases.

This information, along with data from the International Energy Agency, the Paris-based alliance of oil importing nations, also revealed that China's greenhouse gas emissions have recently been growing by a total amount much greater than that of all industrialized nations put together.

"The magnitude of what's happening in China threatens to wipe out what's happening internationally," said David Fridley, leader of the China Energy Group at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

"Today's global warming problem has been caused mainly by us in the West, with the cumulative (carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases) in the atmosphere, but China is contributing to the global warming problem of tomorrow."

The fact of the matter is that Kyoto ignored China completely. If you're a true believer that man is the cause of global warming, that omission is inexcusable. Even if you have doubts about whether man is really the prime offender here - as I am - this is still a problem. There are any number of very good reasons to stop burning oil as a fuel and to figure out better ways to produce power (read nuclear). The fact remains that the 800 pound gorilla in the room is China. They are expanding very, very rapidly and will completely undo any measures we in the West take to curb our dependency on fossil fuels. The Chinese government is cheering on efforts in the West to strangle our own economies - but they have no plans to curb their emissions. They are, however, waiting to pick up whatever we turn our backs on.

The fact of the matter is that Kyoto ignored China completely. If you're a true believer that man is the cause of global warming, that omission is inexcusable. Even if you have doubts about whether man is really the prime offender here - as I am - this is still a problem. There are any number of very good reasons to stop burning oil as a fuel and to figure out better ways to produce power (read nuclear). The fact remains that the 800 pound gorilla in the room is China. They are expanding very, very rapidly and will completely undo any measures we in the West take to curb our dependency on fossil fuels. The Chinese government is cheering on efforts in the West to strangle our own economies - but they have no plans to curb their emissions. They are, however, waiting to pick up whatever we turn our backs on.