Hu Jintao To Play Up Energy-Efficiency Moves In US Visit - Boston Globe

[hatrack]

"Based on apparent views from the top levels of government, China seems to be more proactive on sustainable energy development than the U.S.," said Chris Raczkowski, Beijing-based managing director of renewable energy firm Azure International. Hu still faces obstacles implementing policy further down the chain of command, compared to some U.S. state governments that are having more success pushing an aggressive efficiency agenda.

"If you look more at the middle level, you see U.S. states and cities are sometimes very proactive in promoting cleaner energy, energy efficiency," said Raczkowski. The U.S. government pulled out of the U.N. Kyoto Protocol on climate change, but Maryland has become the eighth U.S. state to join a pact seeking mandatory limits on carbon dioxide emissions, which most scientists believe contribute to global warming.

U.S. utilities are planning a fleet of new coal plants due to bountiful domestic supplies and high gas prices, but only a fraction of those will use clean coal technology that gasifies coal before burning and captures carbon dioxide emissions. The enthusiasm of China's leaders for energy efficiency grows from pragmatic concerns about dependence on costly imported oil and the impact of smog and greenhouse gases from coal.

China has plenty of room for improvement -- it uses over four times as much energy to generate GDP than the average Group of Seven nations, the Asian Development Bank said, and still relies on coal for around 70 percent of that energy. Provincial officials used to putting wealth creation ahead of other aims may shy away from sacrificing growth for efficiency. "It is really the top-level officials who have this vision about China's energy future," said Greenpeace energy and climate campaigner Yang Ailun. "It is difficult to enforce them at a local level, but you can see the attitude is really changing."

EDIT

http://www.boston.com/news/world/asia/articles/2006/04/13/chinas_hu_heads_to_us_on_energy_efficiency_wave/

[madrchsod]

1. when a country has been around for some 3000 or so years

there is a sense of history and outlook on the future. we here have only the next quarter profits to gage our country`s future