Michael Bastasch of the Daily Caller reports that the Chinese government does not appear to share American environmental activists’ concerns about the dangers of global warming.
China could add as much as 400 million tons of coal capacity over the next two years, according to analysts at the consulting firm Woods Mackenzie.
That’s about a 10 percent increase in China’s coal production capacity, which is a stark contrast to the country’s talk about closing coal mines to reduce excess capacity and fight air pollution, according to Bloomberg. “For all its talk about cutting coal mining capacity, China actually plans to add more.” the news outlet reported on Monday.
Chinese officials made moves to shelve coal projects and increase the use of natural gas for heating — though that left many working poor without heat during the frigid winter. All of these actions are generally put in context of China’s commitment to the Paris Agreement.
China promised to “peak” emissions around 2030, decrease carbon dioxide emissions per unit of economic output and use more green energy. Woods Mackenzie’s analysis released Monday, however, shows that China is far away from a green energy renaissance like many environmental activists hope.
Indeed, China’s greenhouse gas emissions increased 4 percent in the first quarter of 2018, and that was after the country’s emissions jumped 1.7 percent in 2017.
