China would never accept checks at Copenhagen: official:

China was never going to accept outside reviews in Copenhagen of its efforts to slow greenhouse gas emissions, a top official said on Saturday, after critics accused Beijing of blocking the talks.

Xie Zhenhua, deputy head of the powerful National Development and Reform Commission, told a forum that Beijing achieved its goal at the climate talks by ensuring aid for developing nations was not linked to external checks.

“Developing countries, especially China, would surely never accept this request,” Xie said, according to a transcript of his speech.

Britain’s climate change minister Ed Miliband has said China vetoed attempts to give legal force to the accord at last month’s UN Climate Change Conference and also blocked an agreement on reductions in global emissions.

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China, the world’s biggest carbon polluter, has always said rich countries should take the lead in committing to substantial emission reduction targets and provide finance to developing countries battling climate change.

Xie welcomed the Copenhagen Accord set a goal of “jointly mobilising” $109 billion for developing nations by 2020, calling it a step forward for future negotiations.

Of course China is happy–they accomplished their mission: No restrictions on their activities, and a pledge from other countriers to help pay for the greening of developing countries.

Before anyone jumps on the manufactured chance to accuse me of being a jingoistic American, let me ask one question: When can we say with authority that humanity knew with reasonable certainty that emitting insane amounts of CO2 was a very bad idea? Whether you pick James Hansen’s 1988 Congressional testimony, the findings of the 1957/58 International Geophysical Year, or any other date, it’s clear that the US and China have both acted with reckless disregard. All you have to do is look at US consumption and emissions from transportation and electricity generation, and those coal fired plants we know China has been building at break-neck speed. And pointing fingers over what any country did before that date is, well, pointless. None of this is to suggest, of course, that the US and China are the only bad actors in the room; you can build your own list of countries and their actions you feel are worthy of condemnation.

So if you want to play the blame game, first, pick a date after which we didn’t just do bad things but knowingly did bad things, and second, hold everyone accountable to the same set of standards.

Any rational selection of that date yields some very ugly results, and I, for one, am not proud of my country’s track record.


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