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China Clinches Gold in Renewable Energy

With the Olympics in full swing, and the hype building about Gold medals and record breaking performances, the pre-Olympic buzz about pollution, climate change and the looming smog in Beijing has some-what faded.  However, nearly every day, we are reminded of global emissions, the environmental conditions Olympic athletes are facing and the impeding issue of global climate change – both locally and globally (ENS Article). This focus on China is not just limited to the Olympic Games, but is becoming an ordinary discussion.  I’ve heard numerous times in the climate change discussion – - “what are we going to do about China.”  Well, a few recent news articles have got me thinking:  Maybe the question shouldn’t be ‘what we are going to do about China,’ ‘but what are WE going to do??’

The thing is the 20% of the world’s population lives in China, and as a whole, the country emits an estimated 6200 megatonnes of green-house gases per annum.  Now look at the US.  With one-third of a billion people (4.5% of the world’s population), and approximately 5,800 megatonnes of green-house gas emission per year – individually, we as Americans, put about four-times more pollutants into the atmosphere than any individual in China (see the stats on Wikipedia; Reuters).  Not to mention that China is one of the leading producers of green technology.  China is a world leader in installed renewable generation capacity.  It has the world’s largest hydroelectricity capacity, the fifth largest fleet of wind turbines, is the leading manufacturer of solar panels and is the world’s leading producer of energy efficient house-hold appliances and batteries.   That’s pretty exciting! 

So, just to put it out there – - let’s not ask: “what about China?” let’s change the conversation a bit and ask ourselves each day – what are WE doing?!  Something to mull over tonight as you enjoy gymnastics, diving, basketball, polo, etc.

More news on the topic from: BBC NEWS; REUTERS

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