Mitch McConnell and Joe Manchin can take this, pack it in their pipes, smoke it, and dump the ashes in the Elk River so their constituents can get a clue.
BEIJING — China and the United States made common cause on Wednesday against the threat of climate change, staking out an ambitious joint plan to curb carbon emissions as a way to spur nations around the world to make their own cuts in greenhouse gases.
The landmark agreement, jointly announced here by President Obama and President Xi Jinping, includes new targets for carbon emissions reductions by the United States and a first-ever commitment by China to stop its emissions from growing by 2030.
Administration officials said the agreement, which was worked out secretly between the United States and China over nine months and included a letter from Mr. Obama to Mr. Xi proposing a joint approach, could galvanize efforts to negotiate a new global climate agreement by 2015.
It was the signature achievement of an unexpectedly productive two days of meetings between the leaders. Mr. Obama and Mr. Xi also agreed to a military accord designed to avert clashes between Chinese and American planes and warships in the tense waters off the Chinese coast, as well as an understanding to cut tariffs for technology products.
A climate deal between China and the United States, the world’s No. 1 and No. 2 carbon polluters, is viewed as essential to concluding a new global accord. Unless Beijing and Washington can resolve their differences, climate experts say, few other countries will agree to mandatory cuts in emissions, and any meaningful worldwide pact will be likely to founder.
“The United States and China have often been seen as antagonists,” said a senior official, speaking in advance of Mr. Obama’s remarks. “We hope that this announcement can usher in a new day in which China and the U.S. can act much more as partners.”
And thus should immediately end the best talking point against curbing fossil fuel emissions, which is that even if we do it, China and other emerging nations won’t go along with us and nothing will be accomplished except economic loss.
Nice work, Obama.
Nonsense. Everyone knows that we should invest in gas mask futures. After all, the only thing standing in our way is the EPA, which is the first thing on the chopping block so sayeth Mitch McConnell:
5 Photos From The Beijing Fashion Show That Make Surviving Smog Sexy
Speaking of Yertle the Turtle .. what do you think his statement says? “… Obama’s war on coal .. ” Yup … Yertle couldn’t resist being his usual dumbass self.
Plays well in Kentucky.
China’s looked at the maps of what its coastline will look like when the West Antarctic ice shelf melts. A 3+ meter sea level rise appears inevitable.
I wish more Americans took a look at future American coastlines and drought projections.
○ U.S. Lags Behind China in Renewables Investments
○ Germany’s Unlikely Champion of a Radical Green Energy Path
Agreement from 2006 levels … before the economic crisis!! See chart. Due to the recession, levels have already dropped by 10% through 2012. US targets to decrease carbon emisions to the 1990 level. Europe cuts their emission from their 1990 emission level. Which are the ambitious countries taking climate change seriously?
○ Pledge by the world’s two biggest polluters appears to be more politically significant than substantive | Reuters |
The US has been giving away the possibility of creating green jobs in the US for three decades. The US is hobbled by a conservative ideology bankrolled by the fossil fuel industry. China until recently had been hobbled by not wanting to destroy its fossil fuel industries in changing to renewables and the lack of strong and bold leadership. Xi is reputed to be the strong leader politically in the Chinese system since Deng Xiao-Ping. With an emerging Chinese recession, Xi now has a way of stimulating the Chinese economy and providing new jobs and export sales to the US. Because the Koch brothers, Mitch McConnell, and Joe Manchin are successfully hobbling the US renewables industry.
I vaguely remember an article this week about the US denying an application for Chinese investment in a US wind farm project. I can’t refind the article. But if my memory is correct, we are going to be in a huge political fight with the fossil fuel industry over the next few years, a fight that will hamper US deployment of renewables and threaten Florida real estate even more than it is currently threatened. Florida Republicans are not concerned because the areas most threatened (besides the abodes of the 1% who can afford their own private artificial island resorts) are the areas of Florida that are most Democratic. The reality likely is going to be much more different and severe on all of us than even the Cassandras imagine.
It also signals to coal producers that China is going to be a declining export market. That export market wrinkle is like what will excite McConnell and Manchin. There will be no new jobs created constructing export ports on the West Coast that could bring political allies from CA, OR, and WA in on their schemes.
I’ve only read the headlines but it appears that the US cuts now and China cuts in the sweet bye and bye. Not that this is bad, but the agreement seems to be a PR coup more than anything else.
China’s people are choking in the cities. That’s a fact related to me by friends that have been their recently. China is going to cut internal combustion for public health reasons. Getting a US commitment to buy more Chinese solar panels is icing on the cake.
“We hope that this announcement can usher in a new day in which China and the U.S. can act much more as partners.”
China – senior partner
U.S. – junior partner
“They work for us now.”
“Citizens against government waste” Who are they? The Koch’s and Walton’s?
Not sure. Kind of sounds like them doesn’t it? But when I read your comment that video was the first thing I thought of.
Video was pretty good until it slipped into the right wing talking points.
China has already hedged its bets by signing pipeline deals with Russia that allows Russian oil to be piped directly to China. And China and Russia are collaborating on a development project to extend trade directly from China to Europe across what is being called the Eurasian Silk Road of transportation and communication infrastructure.
So one unsanswered question from this is how much effect this will have on demand for China importing natural gas and the US exporting natural gas, which can help China lower its carbon footprint more rapidly even as it ramps up its renewables.
Did the US use fracked natural gas to buy a cheaper source of renewables generating equipment because of the legal shackles on renewables and the perverse subsidies in US law?
In domestic politics, did we play T. Boone Pickens against the Koch brothers?
But the Chinese are too smart to become dependent on Russia as the Europeans have. But then China and Russia are ancient enemies.
what’s this ancient enemies thing – that’s so not true. perhaps you mean Russia and Japan? China and Japan?
Russian and Mongolia? (not the same as China)
Apparently Obama is trying to negotiate with Xi to get China to sign on to the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Historic expansion or poison pill?
Should we hope he succeeds? Or are GOP too in China’s pocket to care?
My best hope is that the Republicans oppose it just because Obama is for it.