Related: Republicans vow EPA fight as Obama touts China climate deal | Reuters But
even with China vowing to curb its carbon, Republicans were quick to
question the validity of China's headline-grabbing pledge and used the
announcement to rally the party as it prepares to lead Congress by
promising to do what it can to rein in the Environmental Protection
Agency, whose rules will achieve the bulk of promised emissions cuts.
"As we enter a new Congress, I will do everything in my power to rein in
and shed light on the EPA's unchecked regulations,” said Oklahoma
Senator James Inhofe, a climate change skeptic and critic of U.N.
climate talks who will become the chair of the Senate Environment and
Public Works Committee in January.http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/11/12/us-china-usa-climatechange-mcconnell-idUSKCN0IW1TZ20141112?utm_source=The+Sinocism+China+Newsletter&utm_campaign=d609e2b64d-Sinocism11_13_1411_13_2014&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_171f237867-d609e2b64d-29615013
Related: In Climate Deal With China, Obama May Set 2016 Theme - NYTimes.com A
variety of polls show that a majority of American voters now believe
that climate change is occurring, are worried about it, and support
candidates who back policies to stop it. In particular, polls show that
majorities of Hispanics, young people and unmarried women — the voters
who were central to Mr. Obama’s victories in 2008 and 2012 — support
candidates who back climate change policy. But Republicans are betting
that despite the polls, they can make the case that regulations to cut
greenhouse pollution will result in the loss of jobs and hurt the
economy...Mr. Podesta, a political veteran who was also President Bill
Clinton’s chief of staff, devised the 2025 targets to ensure that they
could be reached without new action from a future Congress. Abandoning
them would require the next president to overturn them //
Podesta was at the same table at the banquet as Obama and Xi, along
with Kerry and Rice. DC political rags claim he is leaving the Obama
administration soon to take a top role in Hilary Clinton's presidential
campaign. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/13/world/asia/in-climate-deal-with-china-obama-may-set-theme-for-2016.html?emc=edit_tnt_20141112&nlid=18733852&tntemail0=y&utm_source=The+Sinocism+China+Newsletter&utm_campaign=d609e2b64d-Sinocism11_13_1411_13_2014&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_171f237867-d609e2b64d-29615013&_r=0
Related: China’s pledge to cut greenhouse gases eliminates excuse for other nations - The Washington Post But
it’s a start, say many climate experts. “The peak could be Himalayan,
but the fact that they’re even talking about it is amazing,” Turner
said. “Five years ago, you couldn’t imagine someone would talk about
peak emission levels.” Moreover, Xi’s pledge to ratchet up the share of
non-fossil fuels from the current 8 percent to 20 percent of the
country’s energy consumption could turn out to be more important than
the 2030 pledge. To reach that carbon-free energy goal will require
immediate and massive action.http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/chinas-pledge-to-cut-greenhouse-gases-eliminates-excuse-for-other-nations/2014/11/12/5a22b0de-6a8f-11e4-a31c-77759fc1eacc_story.html?hpid=z4&utm_source=The+Sinocism+China+Newsletter&utm_campaign=d609e2b64d-Sinocism11_13_1411_13_2014&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_171f237867-d609e2b64d-29615013
Related: China’s Climate Change Plan Raises Questions - NYTimes.com “This
is a very serious international commitment between the two heavy
hitters,” said Li Shuo, who researches climate and coal policy for
Greenpeace East Asia. Still, many questions surround China’s plans,
which President Xi Jinping announced in Beijing alongside President
Obama after months of negotiations. In essence, experts asked, do the
pledges go far enough, and how will China achieve them?http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/13/world/asia/climate-change-china-xi-jinping-obama-apec.html?ref=asia&utm_source=The+Sinocism+China+Newsletter&utm_campaign=d609e2b64d-Sinocism11_13_1411_13_2014&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_171f237867-d609e2b64d-29615013
Related: Climate Pact by U.S. and China Relies on Policies Now in Place - NYTimes Experts
said that the emissions reductions in the agreement would not be enough
to enable the world to keep global warming below the target of a
2-degree Celsius, or 3.6-degree Fahrenheit, rise in global temperatures
that was adopted at a climate meeting in Copenhagen in 2009. Beyond the
reductions, they said the deal was important for what it showed the rest
of the world, particularly other large carbon emitters like India and
Russia, in advance of a meeting in Paris next year to negotiate a new
climate treaty.http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/13/world/climate-pact-by-us-and-china-relies-on-policies-now-largely-in-place.html?ref=world&utm_source=The+Sinocism+China+Newsletter&utm_campaign=d609e2b64d-Sinocism11_13_1411_13_2014&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_171f237867-d609e2b64d-29615013
Related: End of China's coal boom signals cleaner and healthier future | South China Morning Post Teng
Fei, an associate professor at Tsinghua University, the lead researcher
on an extensive study on the impact of a 2030-carbon peak on China's
economy, said the timeframe was "rather aggressive" and would require
smart policies to limit damage to the economy. "Our study shows China's
carbon emissions would peak after 2040 under existing measures on
pollution reduction and energy conservation, so it's a rather bold move
to make the peak occur at least 10 years earlier," he said.http://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1638447/end-chinas-coal-boom-signals-cleaner-and-healthier-future?utm_source=The+Sinocism+China+Newsletter&utm_campaign=d609e2b64d-Sinocism11_13_1411_13_2014&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_171f237867-d609e2b64d-29615013
Related: Why Is Beijing Downplaying the Supposedly Huge Climate Change Deal?--Foreign Policy So
why isn't Beijing celebrating and advertising its new willingness to do
something for the greater good? Deborah Seligsohn, an expert on the
Chinese environment at the University of California San Diego, told FP
that Chinese leaders "tend not to enthuse," so that may in part explain
Xi's reserve. But she also said that Beijing is under fire domestically
for its unsuccessful efforts to curb local air pollution, noting that
people were furious that authorities managed to clear the air for the
visiting APEC dignitaries but can't do it on a daily basis for their own
citizens. "There may be worries that focusing on climate change rather
than air pollution doesn't meet the public's main concerns," Seligsohn
said via email..http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2014/11/12/china_us_climate_deal_enthusiasm_gap?utm_source=The+Sinocism+China+Newsletter&utm_campaign=d609e2b64d-Sinocism11_13_1411_13_2014&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_171f237867-d609e2b64d-29615013
Carbon Breakthrough: US, China Make Milestone Agreement to Fight Climate Changeby Phil Mattingly and David J. Lynch, Bloomberg | November 12, 2014 | 2 Comments |
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President Barack Obama pledged deeper U.S. cuts in greenhouse-gas emissions and China will for the first time set a target for capping carbon emissions under an agreement between the world’s two biggest economies. Full Articlehttp://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2014/11/carbon-breakthrough-us-china-make-milestone-agreement-to-fight-climate-change?cmpid=StorageNL-Thursday-November13-2014 |
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