The Chinese have a really serious pollution problem plus, their deserts are getting larger at a high rate. Unless they really work at it they will destroy their economy.
They are already killing many of their citizens. That particular thing does not bother their consciences much- they think that it is more important to have a cranking economy than keep everyone alive. But they are aware that the people of Beijing are disgusted by the deadly air pollution there.
The advantage of thier being a single-party oligarchy is that they can act unilaterally while our congress dithers, worrying about the polls and the support of special interest groups so they can stay in power. Chinese leaders are more concerned with the larger forces that can destabilize their economy, like overpopulation (see one child policy) and will roll over any group that opposes their view of the proper solution. It is sad that a bureaucratic, hide-bound regeim is more nimble than the great democratic experiment.
Should the Chinese communist government actually catch up on the mess they've created and leave us in the dust as a world leader for a stable planet, that would be a strange turn of events indeed, and one I had not contemplated.
They may be unmoving in their ideology, but at least they believe in science, and are more honest about the real risks. Our politicians would probably come out with some conspiracy theory and blame the Chinese for trying to score points by making us look bad.
So the Chinese are leading the way with a carbon tax.
While the Koch-owned tea party and the denialist industry lobbyists have dishonestly and irresponsibly held back American innovation and jobs, they have turned the future world over to the communist Chinese.
The irony in that is palpable. Better bone up on Mandarin, thanks to the tea party "patriots."
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Comments: 8
Killing the poor has never bothered the rich and powerful. (See the history of unions, slavery, and industrialization.)
While the Koch-owned tea party and the denialist industry lobbyists have dishonestly and irresponsibly held back American innovation and jobs, they have turned the future world over to the communist Chinese.
The irony in that is palpable. Better bone up on Mandarin, thanks to the tea party "patriots."