China investing trillions into spreading Green Energy world wide

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/china-climate-change-xi-jinping_us_5919c109e4b0fe039b3646ca

America is a global embarrassment, it is a shadow of its former self. We continue to fall behind further and further in everything. Whatever bad things happen to this garbage dump of a country of ours, we have it coming.

But at least the rest of the world understands that climate change is the most serious issue we have ever faced, and countries are reacting.

@AlexKidd5000:

"America is a global embarrassment."

Congratulations on finally realising about your country what I've known for 13 years.

As for the whole climate change thing: meh, karma. I don't want to say more than that, because it would sound really, really grim and cynical.

Oh, I've always known what an embarrassment america is, I have never had any reason in my life to be proud of it.

China understands what a gold mine green energy is, and that it would allow them to form alliances with many other countries. China's government isn't full of retards like the US's gov is.

@AlexKidd5000:

Good for you. I'll drink to that.

(Hears my doctor yelling in the background​)

Er, non-alcoholic drink, that is. Yes, that's it.

If it makes you feel any better, Canada (Alberta especially) is equally embarassing.

You would think that after the price of oil dropped and caused a recession for the umpteenth time we would learn, and start taking some of those oil dollars and diversify into other energy sources. Especially since Alberta has one of the best climates for solar energy.

I dont know if I would be heralding China as a champion of the climate. You should really research pollution and issues in that country. They have no where near the level of regulations that many first world countries have and have severe pollution issues. It's nice to hear they are investing in green energy, but that's not absolution on pollution.

Very true. But I heard that the air pollution has gotten so out of hand over there (there was so much that a huge cloud of Chinese pollution made it all the way to the US west coast, and that is why cali got all that rain) that they want to fix it, and are transitioning to renewable energy.

Move to China.

they are the future super power of the world...economy about to eclipse the US in less than a decade. They are just taking preliminary steps in order to take the crown. Frankly, i'm a bit disappointed in the US...if this were 10 years ago, the US would never back down from this obvious belittling by the challenger. Now a days, the US is so scared of corporations that they have lost their balls...exactly what FDR was afraid of and warned against. The Chinese are the opposite, they have gone in the way that FDR would have wanted for the US. Corporations make sure to toe the line over there...unless they want to see their owners mysteriously disappear. Over here corporations have bought off all levels of government, the courts and the media.

@sonicare:

I've looked at the figures. China are serious about fighting pollution and climate change. They are already the world's largest producer of renewable energy, the annual growth rate of their coal industry has slowed to a crawl in the last five years, and that growth is expected to freeze and may even begin to decline this year.

They may not be a champion for fighting climate change yet, but no one can say they're not serious.

@blaznwiipspman1:

Yeah, not so fast. Collectively, China is huge economic power, but individually they are still a middle income economy, many Chinese are still dirt poor, and corruption is still a huge problem. They also lack the US's unique fiscal position due to the US Dollar's status as the world's favourite reserve currency, though they are hoping to change that soon. Their defence spending, though rising rapidly, is still a fraction of that of the United States. They have two aircraft carriers, one of which is a refurbished Cold War relic designed for training, compared to the US's ten, and they lack an ability to globally project their forces. Also, as large as China's military is, they have a severe lack of real combat experience, whereas American military have seen and learned from real combat in Somalia, Kosovo, Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya and Syria just within the last 25 years. And on the diplomatic stage, America still have a much larger network of friends and allies, built over 70 years of splashing cash and selling guns all over the globe.

Added to that are the huge demographic crises China are about to face: their gender ratio is 1.18 male to 1 female, their workforce is about to rapidly age, with no immediate replacement in sight. They've recently loosened their population control​ laws - it's now the TWO child policy - but they won't see the results of that policy change for many years, if at all. And they still face the problem of feeding 1.4 billion people in a country that is geographically about 90% mountains and desert.

So China are nowhere near going toe-to-toe with the US on the global stage yet, and their current international influence are built mostly from their seat at the UNSC and their collective economic power. Sure, they could be in the future, but they also face huge challenges.

And China seems to be more than willing to take on those dragons.

@madrocketeer: Yeah Green energy worked so well for Spain! Link

Thank's I needed a good laugh. Not surprised at all that you get your news from CBN

Good... one of the major economies needs to take the lead on this and encourage others to follow. And as long as the clowns that are running the US atm are in charge, it ain't going to be them.

@FireEmblem_Man:

CBN? Hah. Sure, I should take seriously a six-year-old article from a looney American religious right "news source," what with American politics having always been f***ed sideways with a methamphetamine-coated cheese grater and all. One starring Pat "gays caused 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina" Robertson, no less.

Once again, hah.

@eliminatorpaige:

I got a WTF from the University of Idontgiveashit. This guy thought Haiti deserved the 2010 earthquake because he thought the country's founders made a deal with Satan to free themselves from the slave owners. He has zero credibility.

A lot of projecting going on here. I'm not sure someone with the above the beliefs should be championed for their intellect. A degree is a piece of paper after all :)

@eliminatorpaige:

Right. Sure, I admit he's smarter than me - at getting rich off millions of gullible, paranoid people, that is. Doesn't mean I have to give him and his ilk a pass whenever they say stupid shit.

Yelling at you? I'm having a blast, and I hold no ill will towards you. I don't even really give a shit about Pat Robertson; he's over there in the United States of F***edupistan, and I'm not. And if I come off as a hostile, cynical jerk, well I suppose that's just my thing.

But I have one as well. its just my certs have been a lot more useful for employment. IT is weird lol

@eliminatorpaige:

True.

Yeah, nah. I prefer to channel my anger into snark, not yelling.

Okay? Maybe this will help you? From the NPR, or is that make me stupid as well?

I know right?! It fucking sucks here in the US. You have all these freedoms to write, think and say what you want. What a piece of shit country. China is way better.

Better, though it's NPR and therefore still American, and therefore still blegh. I did research it, though, and it checks out.

Of course, it's still two years old, and it's talking about a country that had much, much bigger fishes to fry domestically: with unemployment that reached a peak of 25% and public debt at over 100% of GDP, of course there's going to cuts to subsidies, which many renewable energy companies relied heavily on at the time. All business sectors have setbacks at times (remember the late 90s dot-com crash?), and I don't see how the bankruptcy a few companies is an indictment on the renewable energy industry as a whole. Renewable energy certainly wasn't responsible for Spain's economic woes.

And again, this is two years ago. Renewable energy prices have dropped heavily since then, Spain just recorded a 3+% GDP growth last year, and unemployment has dropped rapidly to below 20%, which means there is no reason they can't begin to invest and expand again. After all, I remember reading about a US solar company (can't recall the name) that got a big subsidy few years back then went bust, and critics thought that was the end of that. Today, solar employs more people in the US than coal. Spain could do the same, especially as it has vast untapped solar capacity, the use of which is being partially hampered by their "Sun Tax" the government is using to protect the big utilities.

This whole thread makes me feel like I'm in high school again. Starting with the OP.

The US are too tied to the powers that ruled the XX century to move forward. That's how empires fall.

You do realize that last year, Solar Power went through some major breakthroughs?

With solar being cheaper per kilowatthour than coal in some regions,

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-02-23/solar-power-cheaper-than-coal-climate-council-finds/8296232

That said, I still believe nuclear is the way to go, thorium in particular has a lot of potential. But solar power is showing some really promising signs, and I am liking where it is going.

@Maroxad: But nuclear power is scary! :-P

Too bad I don't live in Australia, where the sun shines the most (due to the ozone layer dissolving)

America elected a Cheeto Chimpanzee as their President... climate change is the least of their embarrassments.

Meanwhile, America is moving back to coal!

Lmao, people thinking climate change is politics rather than real science. Crapmerica.

@FireEmblem_Man:

The ozone layer has nothing to do with the amount of sunshine. Ozone absorbs Ultraviolet radiation and has almost no effect on light in the visible spectrum, which is what photovoltaic cells use to generate electricity.

Also, the Antarctic ozone hole has stabilised since over ten years ago, and last year I read an article that reported that the hole has begun to heal. Your "ozone layer dissolving" assessment is over a decade late.

Sorry to be blunt and I'm not trying to be mean (just honest) but China kinda looks like shit (full of garbage) and is full of pollution because they lack regulations. Pretending like USA is an embarrassment compared to China in that regard is well....just embarrassing.

It is more than just australia though. Hell, India and many other countries near the equator have the same thing happen last year.

And that solar tech keeps getting better and better. Cheaper and cheaper. With estimates estimating that from costs will drop 70% in 20 years and become globally the cheapest within 10 years for pretty much anywhere in the world.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-01-03/for-cheapest-power-on-earth-look-skyward-as-coal-falls-to-solar

Well I'm glad that you understand that regulations are a GOOD thing, and you don't think like an idiot right winger who thinks any and all regulations are bad. China oviously needs to clean up it's act, and they seem to be serious about doing so. And the USA is quickly destroying it's own environment right now, by employing douche bag business people to the EPA, and axing all regulations, and banning science. Yeah, the US is FAR more of a global embarrassment than china, and the world cares far more about science then the US does. America sucks.

Take the climate change debate out.

America is so short sighted. The market for green energy is going to be huge. As technology gets cheaper, it becomes the preferred commodity. China is going to beat America to the punch.

There's more money, and more jobs in green energy. But Trump wants to placate some old unions to get that blue collar white vote. Can't wait till this moron is out.

Tesla has Gigafactory.

Australia... SA's 3rd world base load power issues says hi.

Did you see the documentary Blood on the Mountain?

Really does a great job going into the politics of coal. I feel bad for the miners, I really do; they get duped every time, that whole region and demographic, and go against their own interest. And a lot of the "greener" people hate them simply because of what they do.

@ronvalencia: Wow Ron you did the unthinkable and actually made me laugh with one of your posts.. Bravo good sir

I googled "australian renewable energy issues baseload".... I see example of renewable energy leftist green ideology extremist with 3rd world base-load energy reliability.

Yeah Obama tried to get us into green energy, but you know he is the worst thing ever and we need a wall.

Also I like China, but they have caused hella pollution for a long time. Glad they are fixing it.