Here’s everything you need to know about China’s “climate priorities”…
Back in November, when 200 countries and 120 heads of state met in Glasgow, Scotland for COP26 to talk about greenhouse gas emissions (many of them taking private planes to get to the conference, the hypocrites), Xi Jinping decided he had better things to do.
During COP26, China took the opportunity to announce, via its state-run newspaper Global Times, that their coal production has reached “the highest level in recent years.”
I think it’s pretty clear they aren’t concerned with how much noxious waste they spew into the earth’s atmosphere; it’s clear their number one priority is winning.
But the Washington Post is still wondering: hey, what’s up with China?
In a recent article With Coal Surge, China Puts Energy Security and Growth Before Climate, the paper opens with a question they’ve already answered in its title: “When will China build its last coal-fired power plant?”
Um, never.
“That’s the question environmental advocates have been asking ever since Chinese leaders pledged ahead of climate negotiations in Glasgow, Scotland, last November to peak national emissions before 2030 and stop building coal power plants abroad,” WaPo continues.
Oh, they pledged, did they? Made a promise, huh? China’s word is mud. Look no further than the Uyghur genocide, the disappearance of tennis star Peng Shui, and countless other human rights violations and atrocities. But we’re supposed to believe them on climate?
“On Wednesday, Premier Li Keqiang confirmed a goal of 300 million tons of new coal production capacity in 2022, up from 220 million tons added last year,” WaPo says. “In March, Chinese miners dug out more coal per day than ever before. Earlier this month, the government of Ordos city, a coal-extraction powerhouse in Inner Mongolia, approved plans to tap a 2 billion-ton coal-reserve spread across 65 square miles with expected output of 15 million tons per year.”
That doesn’t sound like a country that’s “phasing down” coal.
Meanwhile, the Biden Administration is pushing hard into electric vehicles. Biden wants half of all vehicles sold in the U.S. to be electric by 2030. But, as the Drill Down previously reported, that requires a lot of batteries and battery manufacturing. America only has five percent of the necessary manufacturing capacity.
So we’re turning to China.
Xi Jinping isn’t playing by the same rules as the rest of the world —he may be playing along for now, but make no mistake: China is out to eat our lunch and the lunches of everybody else in the cafeteria.
A pledge from China and fifty cents will get you a cup of coffee.
