Green China?

"To a very great degree, whether or not we as a planet manage to win the Great Wager depends upon China. The combination of its size, course of economic growth, and existing reliance on pollution- (and carbon-) intensive industries and energy sources lead us to a world in which China's choices mean the difference between success and failure. We've maintained a focus on China's massively ambitious and deeply uncertain plans to turn itself into a green superpower for awhile now, and a review of where we stand is in order.

"The immediate spur for this is that Neal Pierce mentioned us in his column on energy today, and so there may be some new readers coming by looking for that information. It's also likely that many of our regular readers missed some of these stories the first time around, as well. In either case, if you're interested, you can read more in the extended entry below.

"'This Miracle Will End Soon' is an essential starting-point. Pan Yue, Deputy Director of China's State Environmental Protection Administration, has been remarkably candid about the magnitude of the environmental crisis facing China:

We have no turning-back if we make mistakes on environmental protection. Environmental problems do not merely concern our offspring, but determine whether people of our generation can live safely. Our environmental capacity has already reached the limit of sustaining economic growth. Environmental problems have become bottlenecks that restrain China's economic and social development.

"China's responses to this situation vary in both scale and aggressiveness, but it has become increasingly clear that many in Beijing are beginning to recognize the magnitude of the problem. The upcoming Olympics gives the nation an all-too-short deadline for making big changes. As a result, the emerging "Green China" policies cover a variety of arenas.

World Changing