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Side by Side in Need for Green Growth: China and America try cooperation
Joshua Kucera
When President Obama took office last year, two of his top priorities were stronger action to stem global warming and a more collaborative, cooperative approach to solving international problems. By making climate change a primary focus in America's relationship with
The logic of U.S.-Chinese cooperation on climate change is manifold. The two countries are the world's largest energy producers, energy consumers, and carbon emitters, combining to account for 40 percent of the greenhouse gases emitted globally each year. By working together,
A collaboration on clean energy also could be a steppingstone to building a better overall relationship between the two nations. "In solving the world's energy problems, having
In November, during Obama's visit to
But questions remain about whether the two countries are willing to back up their rhetoric with serious funding. "The agreements are a good place to start," Lewis says. But "it's unclear where the financial support to carry out the mandates in these agreements is going to come from."
Clean coal.
Also conspicuously absent was an initiative regarding so-called clean coal. The economies of both countries rely heavily on coal.
Clean coal technology is in its infancy, however, and needs large-scale government investments to jump-start development, experts say. And unlike other climate-saving efforts, such as conservation and improvements in energy efficiency, which provide significant cost savings, CCS adds to the cost of producing coal power. That makes it a hard sell. "It's a huge sink of money and has long-term benefits but no short-term benefits," Lewis says. "But it's also one of the most crucial [technologies] to dealing with climate change." And because of the cost, "if we're going to do it, we want
Clean coal would seem to be a natural fit for a U.S.-
U.S.-
Green politics.
Such difficulties underscore the importance of bilateral agreements between
Of course, even green energy cooperation is political. Controversy erupted last year when the developer of a wind farm in
But working together in the research and development stages, as envisioned in the recently announced projects, would allow scientists from the two countries to advance the technology before it gets to the stage of commercial competition, Cleetus adds. That would give companies from both countries a leg up in the world market -- and could help save the planet in the process.
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Environment - Side by Side in Need for Green Growth: China and America try cooperation | Joshua Kucera
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