What a great article. Facts mixed with compelling argument.

Clearly wind and solar are not as applicable in China (little land available for turbines and cold northerly areas) as they are in Australia.

The implications of increasing pollution in China for Australia may be that increasing numbers of Chinese will find China unlivable and will want to move elsewhere. Australia may be one destination for vastly higher Chinese immigration.

Much immigration might be official but also many Chinese may become pollution and economic refugees - an issue AFP Commissioner Keelty so presciently flagged not long ago.

Pete

My son is working in Hong Kong. The polution from the mainland stings his eyes. In his first email to me after he got there simply stated - "The world's imploding".

The article suggests China's coal consumption is around 2.7 billion tonnes annually but others have cited around 4 Gt with an imminent need for increased imports. I think Australia should not only decline to supply China with more coal exports (they are currently a minor customer) but invoke other kinds of sanctions as well. These include a carbon tariff on imports from China set at a broad punitive amount, not adjusted for individual goods. We need have a domestic carbon penalty system in place to give that legitimacy. I also think we should say that yellowcake exports are conditional upon provable reductions in coal use ie uranium is instead-of, not additional-to.

Meanwhile the Rudd government elected partly on a promise to cut emissions is looking the other way while Queensland and New South Wales increase coal exports. It's like training the Socceroos to score own-goals in climate terms. On the other hand the Chinese did pay double the previous rate for their last big LNG contract so imported coal could also get expensive. No doubt many will say we can't really do anything about Chinese emissions. To those people thanks in advance for not even trying.

I was pretty sniffy about the last article Dave wrote. It struck me as hyperbolic and seemed to do nothing other than feed into the prejudices that are entrenched in some people regarding China.

But this article I think tells it like it is. It really is impossible to understand Chinese motivations in anything (the sudden cancellation of a trip to America for example viewed without reference to Rice's no-show last year did not make sense to many)without reference to face.

The microcosm of the classroom does indeed illuminate attitudes nationwide as the "neon light" incident mentioned in the article illustrates.

My students, after returning well-researched assignments on the subject of this article, some of which were incisive, fairly brutal and showed keen grasp of the subject, also had a practical component to complete for a final mark. One class of 3rd years, given an entire semester for their practical, finally unveiled their project which had been undertaken as a group. They had pasted stickers saying "Please turn off the lights" in every classroom.

“Chinese society is complex in ways Westerners overlook or do not understand.”

Typical statement of the white Anglo Saxon lie.

After forcibly selling opium to the Chinese, and milking India dry, the white Anglos are now trying to point the finger at China and other emerging industrialising for global warming. Just like telling Iran and North Korea they can’t have nuclear bombs; or committing biopiracy-- stealing common knowledge from third world countries, patenting them and unashamedly demanding royalties be paid. (http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/fline/fl1710/17100790.htm)

Firstly, let’s get the facts right by looking at figures (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_pollution )

PER CAPITA CARBON DIOXIDE EMISSIONS
Tons of CO2 per year per capita:

• Australia: 10
• United States: 8.2
• United Kingdom: 3.2
• China: 1.8
• India: 0.5

“AUSTRALIA TOPS GREENHOUSE POLLUTION INDEX"
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/06/18/1087245110190.html

The biggest polluters are by the white Anglo countries.

The policies and hypocrisies of the white Anglo countries are the cause of their future Armageddon

Philip,

How about multiplying 10 by 21 million equals 210 million for Australia
versus 1.8 by 1200 milion equals 2160 million for China and rising.

Not much comparison is there.

David