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silence7@slrpnk.net to United States | News & Politics@lemmy.ml · 2 years ago

Climate Is Now a US Culture War Issue

www.nytimes.com

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Climate Is Now a US Culture War Issue

www.nytimes.com

silence7@slrpnk.net to United States | News & Politics@lemmy.ml · 2 years ago
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Opinion | Climate Is Now a Culture War Issue
www.nytimes.com
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And it couldn’t have happened at a worse time.
  • silence7@slrpnk.netOP
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    2 years ago

    The US has actually cut its greenhouse gas emissions somewhat:

    Graph of US greenhouse gas emissions by economic sector, 1990-2021.  Shows emissions rising until ~2006, and dropping thereafter, mostly due to electric generation emissions cuts

    A few states have a lot of renewables in their electric supply mix. Here’s California right now: Chart showing California's electric supply at one particular instant.  57% renewables.  6% nuclear.  5% large-scalae hydroelectic

    It’s not enough to stabilize temperatures; that means actually getting to zero emissions worldwide, but it’s a start.

    • ☆ Yσɠƚԋσʂ ☆@lemmy.mlM
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      2 years ago

      It’s important to keep in mind that US has moved out much of its manufacturing hen looking at these charts. To get the full picture we have to look at the global emissions produced when manufacturing goods and services people in US consume.

      And then it’s instructive to put the gains US made into perspective of what China managed to do. This is a great overview of the progress just this year alone https://nitter.net/KyleTrainEmoji/status/1680243524124516352

      Fossil fuels now account for less than half of China’s power capacity https://e360.yale.edu/digest/china-zero-carbon-electricity

      China is also doing huge amount of carbon capture via reforestation https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-54714692

      and it’s now the global leader in renewable energy by a huge margin https://www.csis.org/east-green-chinas-global-leadership-renewable-energy

      How is it that China is able to do these things while US cannot?

      • silence7@slrpnk.netOP
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        2 years ago

        Basically, China had a bunch of industrial policy around capturing the solar manufacturing, and a willingness to use slave labor to undercut prices in the rest of the world.

        It’s worth nothing that trade doesn’t make a huge difference to emissions.

        • ☆ Yσɠƚԋσʂ ☆@lemmy.mlM
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          2 years ago

          That’s a really dishonest framing of China’s policies given that it’s the one place in the world where wages are actually going up and poverty is being eliminated:

          If we take just one country, China, out of the global poverty equation, then even under the $1.90 poverty standard we find that the extreme poverty headcount is the exact same as it was in 1981.

          The $1.90/day (2011 PPP) line is not an adequate or in any way satisfactory level of consumption; it is explicitly an extreme measure. Some analysts suggest that around $7.40/day is the minimum necessary to achieve good nutrition and normal life expectancy, while others propose we use the US poverty line, which is $15.

          Labor in China is far from being cheapest in the world today, so your whole narrative here is based on a false premise.

          What China had the willingness to do was to create a concrete plan to move off fossil fuels and then commit to implementing it long term.

          Meanwhile, the relative difference is pretty significant:

          For example, the USA has a value of 7.7% meaning its net import of CO2 is equivalent to 7.7% of its domestic emissions. This means emissions calculated on the basis of ‘consumption’ are 7.7% higher than their emissions based on production.

          For example, China’s value of -14% means its net export of CO2 is equivalent to 14% of its domestic emissions. The consumption-based emissions of China are 14% lower than their production-based emissions.

          And then we have to look at this in the context of per capita emissions which is even worse https://ourworldindata.org/co2/country/united-states?country=USA~CHN

          The key part in all this is that China is transitioning off fossil fuels while US keeps talking about it, while having done little tangible work in this regard.

          • silence7@slrpnk.netOP
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            2 years ago

            They’re specifically using forced labor from Uyghurs for solar manufacturing. It’s a problem, and one that’s complicating the ability of China to export solar panels.

            • ☆ Yσɠƚԋσʂ ☆@lemmy.mlM
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              2 years ago

              There’s no actual evidence for this claim. If you want to see actual forced labour then look at US prison system. US has the highest incarceration rate in the world and prisoners are used as literal slave labour. Meanwhile, the smear by US regime is also having very little actual impact on China’s ability to export solar panels.

              • silence7@slrpnk.netOP
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                2 years ago

                If it’s not real, China can open up the region to outsiders, and let workers communicate freely without monitors present or spyware on their phones.

                • ☆ Yσɠƚԋσʂ ☆@lemmy.mlM
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                  2 years ago

                  China has opened up the region to outsiders plenty of people have visited it including western news agencies. Here’s one example. You’re just regurgitating propaganda your regime is feeding you, there is no evidence for it. Meanwhile, we have lots of concrete evidence for precisely the sorts of atrocities US accuses China of happening in US. Maybe focus on what’s happening in your own country.

                  • silence7@slrpnk.netOP
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                    2 years ago

                    Lol.

                    And it’s seen in the fear that was ever-present, just below the surface, on two rare trips to Xinjiang I made for The Associated Press, one on a state-guided tour for the foreign press.

                    A bike seller’s eyes widened in alarm when he learned I was a foreigner. He picked up his phone and began dialing the police.

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