Yuan To Start Something?
Shanghai Surprise
It’s all about the Benjamins … or the Maos … or the Queen Elizabeths … or about the group picture of The Sopranos that people tell me is on the Italian currency.
As the G-8 summit looms, China continues to take a hard-line against global warming. Or, more accurately, the Chinese continue to take a hard-line in favor of being in charge of their own development.
China appears to be one of the few nations to recognize that the end-game of the climate change debate is about how to get money out of developing nations into the hands of corrupt Third World despots lesser developed countries.
China’s position is that already industrialized countries like the U.S. (whose carbon emissions actually declined last year!) should foot the bill and allow China (whose carbon emissions were up by 60% last year) to grow and catch up.
Only in the goofy world of international diplomacy could any of this be taken seriously. It’s like asking China to stop teaching their kids math so that the U.S. students can catch up.
In a side note, former German chancellor Helmut Schmidt called for an end to the “hysterical and overheated” approach being taken toward global warming.
It now appears that there is no consensus either among scientists or among politicians about the dangers of global warming.
global warming, climate change, Helmut Schmidt, China, money, Benjamins, G-8,
July 8th, 2009 at 11:35 am
I don’t usually reply to posts but I will in this case.