China and the U.S., Two Divergent CO2 Strategies

Published February 28, 2013

Climate Change Weekly #82

If global warming were truly a crisis, China would be the bad-guy bully. China emits more carbon dioxide than any other nation on Earth. China emits more carbon dioxide than all nations in the Western Hemisphere combined. China’s emissions have more than tripled since 2000, even while the United States and other nations have cut their emissions. China by itself caused most of the global increase in carbon dioxide emissions this century.

Despite these facts, global warming alarmists frequently throw love at China on energy and climate issues, saying we should emulate the Far East superpower:

  • Media across the alarmist spectrum are gushing with praise and envy this week in the wake of China pledging to impose a small tax on carbon dioxide emissions.
  • The reliably alarmist Bloomberg media site published an article last month titled, “China, Mexico Leading Fight on Climate Change with New CO2 Laws.” (Mexican emissions, like those of China, have increased this century while U.S. emissions declined.)
  • And during this year’s State of the Union address, President Barack Obama claimed, “As long as countries like China keep going all in on clean energy, so must we.”

China uses more coal, uses less renewable power, emits more carbon dioxide, emits more pollutants across the board, and is on a trajectory of tremendously higher future pollution levels. The United States, by contrast, uses less coal, uses more renewable power, emits less carbon dioxide, emits fewer pollutants across the board, and is continually reducing its emissions of carbon dioxide and pollutants.

Global warming alarmists and environmental activists constantly praise China and hold the nation up as an example for the United States to follow. Yet the two nations are on distinctly different trajectories regarding carbon dioxide emissions and environmental quality. China is pursuing a policy of more taxes and more government programs that do nothing to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. The United States, meanwhile, is reducing carbon dioxide emissions without a carbon tax and without many of the other collectivist programs urged by global warming alarmists.

China and the United States: two nations, two different policy choices, and two strikingly divergent carbon dioxide trajectories.

SOURCE: Forbes.com


IN THIS ISSUE

Polar sea ice is above the long-term average … Zoologist gives 10 reasons not to worry about polar bears … Frostbite ends global warming activist’s Antarctic expedition … Survey shows fewer people concerned about global warming … Bill proposed to stop funding IPCC


POLAR SEA ICE IS ABOVE THE LONG-TERM AVERAGE

Polar sea ice is currently more extensive than the long-term average since satellites first began measuring polar sea ice extent in 1979. A very slight downward trend in polar sea ice exists since 1979, but the trend is minimal enough that sea ice each year fluctuates above and below the long-term median.

SOURCE: Cryosphere Today


ZOOLOGIST GIVES 10 REASONS NOT TO WORRY ABOUT POLAR BEARS

Polar bear expert Susan Crockford marked the 40th anniversary of an international agreement to protect polar bears by publishing 10 good reasons not to worry about climate change impacts on the Arctic predator. Among the reasons not to be concerned, Crockford notes only one polar bear subpopulation has had a statistically significant decline in recent years.

SOURCE: Polar Bear Science


FROSTBITE ENDS GLOBAL WARMING ACTIVIST’S ANTARCTIC EXPEDITION

A global warming activist pulled out of an Antarctic journey to call attention to global warming when he developed frostbite. The explorer sought to call attention to “the effect that climate change has wrought upon the polar ice cap.” Apparently he neglected to check NASA satellite data showing the Antarctic ice cap in undergoing long-term expansion since satellites first began measuring it in 1979.

SOURCES: Washington Post; Wegner; and Cryosphere Today


SURVEY SHOWS FEWER PEOPLE CONCERNED ABOUT GLOBAL WARMING

Less than half the people on the planet consider global warming a serious problem, according to a GlobeScan Radar poll of 22,812 people in 22 countries. The survey revealed far fewer people believe in a global warming crisis than was the case in 2009.

SOURCE: The Independent


BILL PROPOSED TO STOP FUNDING IPCC

Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-MO) has introduced legislation to halt U.S. funding for the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Science writer Larry Bell explains in his Forbes.com column why Congress should stop sending taxpayer dollars to the scaremongering U.N. body.

SOURCE: Forbes.com

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