Spratly Islands, new tensions with China, higher oil prices

China is a huge polluter, but it has also declared some very significant reductions as future targets, and it currently looks like it's on track to meet those targets:

- Overall reduction of CO2 emissions per unit of GDP by 40-45% by 2020 compared to the 2005 level;
- Increase the share of non-fossil fuels in primary energy consumption to around 15% by 2020;
- Increase forest coverage by 40 million hectares and forest stock volume by 1.3 billion cubic meters by 2020 from the 2005 levels.

The Chinese government is scared of only one thing: revolt by the Chinese people, and the Chinese people complain loudly about living in smog.

Too Funny.

http://www.mongabay.com/images/2006/graphs/co2_country_1990-2025.jpg

That projection was published in 2005. China didn't introduce its targets until 2010.

The US has only very marginally lower emissions than China atm (and isn't meeting its reduction targets) - why don't you criticise the US also?

I'm neither Chinese nor American, and from my point of view there's very little to separate them in terms of damage atm. They're both terrible.

Here's a memo, again.

Dirty deeds: The world's biggest polluters by country | GlobalPost

P.S.- Love the 2013 pic

A little update, with pics.

Pollution In China Is Out Of Control: 33 Shocking Photographs

Not to go off subject here, but after seeing Old Phart's link to those horrible photos, it made me think about frozen seafood here in the U.S. If you read the packaging it'll say things like packaged in the U.S. not product of the U.S. Most of the frozen seafood is produced in China. And I love buying the already breaded butterfly shrimp...but all of the brands I've found are grown in Chinese ponds which is covered with chicken coops and the shrimp and any other pond raised fish lives on a diet of excrement, plus growth hormones, etc. Let's just say it's cured my desire for any frozen seafood at all!

Just put a factory there making those BB gun canisters of C02 with it!!!!!

About a week ago a Chinese warship was hanging out in the Aleutians. Just yesterday a Russian war ship was hanging out by an undersea cable (spying?). For all the money we give to our military and diplomats it's nice to see that they're keeping themselves busy. All sarcasm aside those are very important sea lanes, and expanding the borders of any nation needs to be watched very carefully and challenged.

We've had a few "discussions" with our northern neighbor about fishing grounds. Few countries have clean hands when it comes to trying to expand their borders, but building islands is a new twist. Brings a whole new area to international law. Could even bring those fantasy floating islands into the discussion eventually. Personal estates? Resorts? Or expansions of territorial limits? Way above my pay grade to figure out, and more than a bit scary. Once again the law is racing to catch up to technology.