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Thursday, March 30, 2017

The Times Goes Full Fake News

The New York Times has a front page article today proclaiming that with President Trump "retreating" from the fight against global warming, China will wrest leadership in that battle away from the USA.  Think about that for a moment and while you ponder that claim, remember these points:

1.  The USA and China entered into an agreement that the mainstream media lauded as a breakthrough when president Obama signed it.  Under that agreement, China need not take any steps to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide or other greenhouse gases until 2030.  The USA, however, agreed to take drastic steps immediately to meet the goals set forth by the Paris Accords.  Simply put, America complies with Paris and China ignores those agreements.  What a breakthrough!

2.  Fifteen years ago, the USA was the world's biggest source of carbon emissions.  Since then, America has cut those emissions substantially.  Much of that reduction has been the result of a switch to the use of natural gas in power generation, a change caused by the widespread use of fracking and the resultant cut in the cost of natural gas.  Today, the world's biggest source of carbon emissions is China.  China has been building new coal-fired power plants at a rapid pace.  It opens something like 50 new coal plants each year.  Smog is now extraordinarily bad in Beijing.  The Chinese completely ignore the pollution caused by the country's rapid economic growth.

So is the Times correct?  Will the mega-polluting China suddenly grab the mantle of leadership in the fight against global warming?  Will the leadership in Beijing announce that they are going to stop construction of all those coal fired power plants?  Will China decide that it no longer needs or wants economic growth when it can instead hold the title of world leader in the fight against global warming?

You really have to wonder if the authors of the Times' article believe what they wrote.  Anyone with half a brain understands that the Chinese have no desire to get involved with the "fight" against global warming.  The gave Obama his big "breakthrough" by agreeing that they didn't have any obligations in that "fight" for the next 13 years.  Obama got his photo-op and China gave nothing.  Now that America will no longer be ignoring the damage done to its economy by the "fight", China will never move forward to grab leadership.  My guess is that the Times' reporters understand this, but the chance to criticize Trump was just too good to pass up -- even if it is Fake News.

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