China on Climate Change

E-mail to Congress:

EIN News says, "U.S., China Seek to Reignite Global Talks on Climate Change. The world's two biggest producers of greenhouse gases sought to build momentum Tuesday for stalled efforts to craft a global agreement to limit emissions, with China pledging to make sweeping changes by 2020 and President Obama exhorting world leaders to act to avert catastrophe. (latimes.com)".

This is somewhat surprising. The Chinese are reasonably good scientists and intelligent researchers. I doubt that they have overlooked the fact that there is no scientific evidence to support the theory of greenhouse gases, of which carbon dioxide is considered a part. In all likelihood, this is a political maneuver, which you as an expert may be able to decipher.

For a starter, let's consider year 2006 data. US emission of carbon dioxide per capita was 19 metric tons. China emission was 4.6 metric tons. If we set 19 metric tons as the baseline and establish a cut of 50%, the US will have to cut 9.5 metric tons to achieve the new maximum of 9.5 metric tons. China will also be allowed 9.5 metric tons and will have to make no cuts. In fact, China will be able to increase its CO2 emissions by 4.9 metric tons and still be within the new maximum.

Since most of the world's energy is produced from fossil fuel burning, with subsequent CO2 emission, the country with the highest CO2 emission per capita has the highest standard of living. US citizens presently have a higher standard of living than the Chinese. However some arbitrary maneuvering of numbers, such as the above, can quickly equalize the standards of living. I doubt that most Americans would want that.