I THINK IT’S important to finally drive a stake through what may be the most resilient—and incorrect and damaging—right-wing talking point on climate and energy. Which is, to paraphrase literally hundreds of congresspeople, cabinet secretaries, and spin doctors: “Why should America bother to cut its global warming emissions? China will simply build more coal plants and fill the air anyway.”
This was never a good argument for avoiding our responsibility. America, after all, has put far more carbon in the air than has China, despite the much smaller U.S. population. And it’s all still up there trapping heat: The carbon dioxide that poured from the tailpipe of my family’s maroon Plymouth Fury when I was getting my learner’s permit in suburban Boston in the mid-’70s is still up there in the atmosphere doing its thing. Also, China’s emissions were at least in the service of the biggest poverty-elimination spurt the world has ever seen, not in the service of building ever-bigger suburbs.
But now you don’t even need to make those arguments, because China is reducing its CO2 emissions while America is back to increasing its own. U.S. carbon production rose 2.4% last year, largely because the Trump administration has us burning more coal, while China’s production stayed flat or began to slope slightly downward. This is remarkable, since China is still a relatively poor nation with relatively fast growth—but it now has so many windmills and solar panels that it is at or near its carbon peak, many, many years ahead of schedule. This is great news.
Not that, of course, any of that will sink in with our obstinately uninformed leaders. Trump, at the World Economic Forum in Davos this winter, between frothing about Greenland, said: “I haven’t been able to find any wind farms in China. Did you ever think of that? It’s a good way of looking. You know, they’re smart. China is very smart. They make them. They sell them for a fortune. They sell them to the stupid people that buy them, but they don’t use them themselves.”
That simply isn’t true, as the man with access to the biggest surveillance machine on the planet could easily find out. (Or he could look at Google Earth, for that matter.) China’s coast is now dotted with vast wind farms; its ridges are as well. They produced more than 40% of all the wind power on planet Earth last year, cheaply and efficiently. Chinese engineers regularly figure out how to build bigger blades, and this year they introduced an easily recyclable version.
Every single European leader sitting in Davos listening to Trump knew that, and they were doubtless rolling their eyes at his ignorance.
But too many voters still don’t. So, make it an evangelistic task to find a few people you fear might be misled and tell them one of the most important facts on our planet: China is now reducing its carbon emissions while America is increasing ours. If you want to understand the world we’re living in, that’s one of the handful of basic facts you need to know.
Bill McKibben is an author and founder of Third Act, which mobilizes people over 60 for action on climate and justice.
Did this article have an impact on you? Tell us how! Whether you’re moved to take action, have a question, or want to share a comment (good or bad), we value your feedback!
