Michael Bass

Current Event

3/20/09

Chinese holds U.S feet to fire on Global Warming

Soc. 202

                                    China Calls Environmental Shifts of the U.S Out

            Recently, a Chinese official by the name of Xie Zhenhua said that the U.S was all talk when it came to environmental protection: it did not do anything to solve the woes it preaches. Taking it in stride, Senator Maria Cantwell of Washinton responded by establishing the idea of “co-opetition.” Co-petition is the cooperation of sharing new invented goods but practicing a more competitive role in other areas. Mr. Zhenhua’s argument was that the law of Obama’s cap on emission has not passed Congress yet. Cantwell is quoted as saying, “Rather than competing with China for ever-shrinking foreign energy reserves, we could combine market opportunities and turbo charge promising nascent clean energy technologies.” This idea of combining resources with China may very well bring about change in environmental policy quite quickly: it should show immediately in the data as the combined U.S and China total emissions level is nearly 41% of the total in the world.

            There was talk in past weeks of a tariff being initiated to make sure the U.S isn’t at a disadvantage. Xie Zhengua, however, refused the idea, saying that he didn’t support climate change as a means to further Protectionism on trade. Secretary of State Hilary Clinton is being brought in to encourage energy cooperation and general good behavior in the two countries’ relations.

            I appreciate the idea for China and the U.S to combine forces and join as a whole concerning new technologies and inventions for a healthier energy consumption for the world. Protectionist laws drafted by the U.S, however, need to be kept out. If the U.S begins to concern itself with overseas cost, they could distract themselves from the ultimate goal of better energy usage.

http://www.seattlepi.com/connelly/403999_joel18ww.html