Sino-US Rivalry, Or Green Global Economy

Getting both is unrealistic. We're choosing the wrong one.

Quickly sharing two great pieces that came out on China and climate adaptation recently. Both are smart takes, and both highlight aspects of the tradeoff mentioned in the title of this post.

The first, from the Washington Post, noted the following:

China’s combination of economic clout, centralized power and rising energy demand put it in a unique position. No other nation is rolling out renewables nearly this fast. Many low- and middle-income countries need more energy but lack the cash to build. Rich countries have cash but stagnant — or falling — energy demand.

The piece was far more sanguine than I am about China going carbon zero in the foreseeable future, but it marshalled a lot of useful indicators about how central Chinese fiscal and environmental policies will be to getting a green new world. To wit:

The second piece, from Dean Baker, had a title that basically said it all with zero f*cks given: “The Chinese Need to Stay Poor Because the United States Has Done So Much to Destroy the Planet.”

The two pieces validate and converge with some important baseline insights: