China going Green?

Alix ALbright
Sept 25
12:29 am


These past few decades the world has been dealing with the increasing threats and blatant evidence of global warming. Many nations have come to terms that the sources contributing to global warming need to be dealt with immediately. China however doesn’t share the same concern. “President Hu Jintao talked about China's commitment to economic reform, to maintaining its extraordinary pace of economic growth, to opening China's market further to foreign investment and products — but only the barest nod in the direction of climate change.” (TIme) China is said to have become the worlds largest emitter of CO2 gases. The people of China and government officials are beginning to realize now that something has to be done about the high emission of CO2 gases. “China, with 1.3 billion people grasping the higher living standards that industrialization and market economics have brought, had only just begun to spew CO2 into the atmosphere, and it was already the No. 1 emitter.”(Time) President Hu Jintao made an announcement recently that China was going to begin cracking down on the amount of CO2 gas emissions. “They are said that by 2020 renewable sources will account for 15% of China's total energy output — and there are industry analysts, both foreign and domestic, who believe that figure is probably conservative.” (Time) However, the only flaw with China’s plan is that they are still big buyers in the coal market, which emits large amounts of CO2. Over all from the amount of coal they will buy by 2010 they will be adding 80 gigawatts to their electric grid, thus not making any improvement in making the world more green.


Trying to cut down on fossil fuel emissions is almost an impossible task these days. When you rid yourself of one damage causing factor you gain another. China, better late than never, tried to fix their ways by trying new methods to decrease the amount of CO2 emissions into the atmosphere. However, in doing so it caused them to need more coal thus not truly solving the problem. Energy conservation is difficult. It can be handled in mass ways, such as how China tried to handle it, and or citizens can step in. Simple tasks such as turning off a light when you leave a room, or unplugging electronics can make a big difference.



http://www.time.com/time/world/article.html