"China vs. Earth" by Elizabeth Economy. What a cool byline.
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Good Name
08 Jul 2007 06:38 pm
Comments (12)
Sounds like Jennifer Government's sidekick.
I grew up near a family whose surname was "Metropolis." As far as I know, none of them became involved in urban planning.
The great thing about China is that their government do not tolerate hippie protesters.
Iknew an Economy in college. It's originally a Greek name, shortened in the US from something like Ekonomopolous. I wonder how many of the wing-nuts who whine that the left is only worried about US emissions will read this article?
Posted by vanya | July 9, 2007 5:48 AM:"I wonder how many of the wing-nuts who whine that the left is only worried about US emissions will read this article?"
Well I read the article and then I read your comment so I went back and read it again for things that would upset wing-nuts (not that I am a good judge of such things of course). Let us pass over the way in which the article gives China's government a free pass on everything (They sign agreements they break and probably don't intend to keep? No problems! They make gestures that are irrelevant? Good for them - it seems her real complaint is that Bush is honest). She ends the article with two recommendations - that the US aggressively start cutting CO2 emissions and that the OECD should start to share technology with China. That is, even when China's CO2 emissions are the problem, the West and specifically America is at fault and needs to change. How about a little hint that perhaps China ought to meet its SO2 commitments? Nope. Cut CO2 production? Not a chance. In other words she manages to turn an article about China's environmental disaster into one that shows she is only concerned about US CO2 emissions.
HeiGou, once again you are just being silly and show how overly sensitive you are to any criticism of America. It's enough to give one the vapors! She does not give China a free pass, but is making policy recommendations for the US, who, after all, does emit a lot more greenhouse gases overall and per capita. Does she say it is good that China pollutes so much? Considering that she is an environmentalist, she doesn't exactly like when countries cheat on such thing. She calls out Chinese officials for not recognizing the gravity of the situation. She wrote an entire book on how environmental problems threaten China and criticized their leaders for not doing enough. You need to grow up and stop being such a sensitive fucking pussy and learn to drop your filter and read things on its merits, otherwise your thinking will always be mediocre.
Posted by Reality Man | July 9, 2007 8:33 AM:"once again you are just being silly and show how overly sensitive you are to any criticism of America."
So we all admit her article is criticism of America.
Posted by Reality Man | July 9, 2007 8:33 AM:"She does not give China a free pass, but is making policy recommendations for the US, who, after all, does emit a lot more greenhouse gases overall and per capita."
America does not emit more over all even if it does per capita. China over took the US the other day. She sure looks like she gives China a free pass and she is not making policy recommendations as no one in power is going to read her. She is doing what the previous poster said only wing-nuts could accuse her of - focusing on America as a problem.
Posted by Reality Man | July 9, 2007 8:33 AM:"You need to grow up and stop being such a sensitive fucking pussy and learn to drop your filter and read things on its merits, otherwise your thinking will always be mediocre."
My thinking is many things but it is hardly mediocre. I am not sensitive. I am occasionally outraged but that is a different issue. Here the author did just what the previous poster accused only wing-nuts of claiming she did. That was worth pointing out.
HeiGou, you are just doing what you did in the movie thread: being a pussy whenever someone offends your delicate sensibilities. The truth of the matter is that the US's position on climate change does make it harder to pressure China because doing so is rather hypocritical. She does criticize China. Look at lines like:
"Yet China's leaders show little inclination to move aggressively to forestall such calamities."
"If China's development trajectory continues as planned, its increase in greenhouse gas emissions will likely exceed that of all industrialized countries combined over the next twenty-five years, surpassing by five times the reduction in such emissions that the Kyoto Protocol sought. In short, it's a nightmarishly bad picture."
"local officials are often in cahoots with factory managers and allow industry to pollute well above legal limits--either because the officials have a financial stake in the enterprise or because they are afraid that closing a factory, or making it more expensive to operate, will diminish local employment and lead to social unrest, which is now a very serious problem all across China."
"At root, however, China's lax environmental enforcement results from Beijing's failure to create a system of green-oriented incentives and penalties."
"But without more substantial commitment to meet real targets for radical emissions reductions, China's greenhouse contributions will overwhelm its best efforts."
"t actively discriminates in favor of CDM proposals that transfer technology and advance the country's capacity in renewables, energy efficiency and methane recovery."
"Strangely, few outside the scientific community make the connection that climate change may be exacerbating and exacerbated by these "domestic" problems."
"What it will not do, unsurprisingly, is embrace any targets or timetables for greenhouse gas emission reductions. "
She actually does make policy suggestions such as:
"First, the United States, preferably with Australia and India in tow, must agree to aggressive emission reductions, perhaps along the lines currently pursued by California. Without a strong US commitment, the international community has no credibility in pressuring the Chinese.
Second, OECD countries will have to be far more generous and comprehensive in compensating China in its struggle to enforce tougher energy efficiency and renewable standards. That can be done with both financial incentives and technology transfers. What finally brought the Chinese on board with Kyoto and previous international environmental agreements was the attraction of getting paid to do the right thing. If the United States joins the fight against climate change--and if the price is right--there is every reason to believe that China can commit to doing the right thing again."
Once again, you try to reduce everything to a simple black/white mentality, which shows how small and foolish your mind is. The focus of this article is the shortcomings of the Chinese government with regard to protecting the environment. Since she is an American, any recommendations she has that have any chance of being implemented will have to work through American power. She is probably the best-known American expert on Chinese environmental issues. It is true that she criticizes the US as a tangent to her larger point, but it's true her criticisms are true and they are not even the major thrust of the article. You can't complain someone points something out if it's true. The US has not shown leadership in the past decade with regard to climate change. That is not her fault. It is the fault of the US government's. Only people who are overly sensitive to any criticism of the US would blame her for pointing that out instead of wanting to correct it. When you assert you feel one way and every post on this site suggests you feel another way as evidenced to your obsession with any critique of anything to do with the US, you show yourself to be a liar or a troll.
And another thing: her criticisms of the US don't even only single out the US, but include the likes of India and other developed nations.
Right up there with Jennifer 8. Lee.
(Altho Wikipedia says it's "Eight" on her birth certificate. What a letdown.)
Comments closed July 22, 2007.
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Heads in the Sand
"What a cool byline."
Huh. My full name is actually Petey Parsimony, but I always figured it was too silly a byline to use, so I shortened it.
Posted by Petey | July 8, 2007 7:03 PM