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China Leads in "Clean" Energy Investment
derekmead writes "According to a new study (PDF) from Pew Charitable Trusts, China was the world leader in clean energy investment in 2012. The U.S., meanwhile, saw its grip loosen on many of the clean energy technologies it developed.
According to the research, total clean energy investment totaled $269 billion worldwide last year, a decline from 2011's record high of $302 billion. However, clean energy investment in the Asia and Oceania markets grew by 16 percent to $101 billion. In terms of investment — which is an indicator that a country or region has offered compelling projects, struck a good regulatory balance, and has a strong economy — that makes Asia the epicenter of the global clean energy market.
The Pew researchers thus labeled the U.S. clean energy sector as 'underperforming,' largely for a trio of reasons. First, China's boom and manufacturing prowess has taken investment away from the U.S.. Second, the U.S. regulatory environment for clean energy is horrifically unstable (as is the regulatory environment as a whole) as politicians battle over budget rhetoric. Finally, the U.S. has failed to capitalize on its innovation prowess and develop its clean energy manufacturing sector to its full potential."
They do not count nuclear as clean, but including nuclear would only widen China's lead over everyone else (they almost have their first new AP1000 ready and are building lots more).
actually per capita china is still doing pretty well
in 2008, china produced 5.3 tonnes per capita of CO2, whereas the US produced 18.5 tonnes per capita
if the US is telling china that it needs to clean up its act, it would definitely be a case of pot calling the kettle black
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_carbon_dioxide_emissions_per_capita
i dunno what made you think the op was being sarcastic, but your username kinda gives it away
I'm guessing the "/s" at the end of the op's post was the indication everyone else was using to recognize sarcasm...
You can never know everything, and part of what you do know will always be wrong. Perhaps even the most important part.
Only because they are by far the most populous country. You can only really judge based on per capita rates. China is 78th among countries with 5.3 metric tonnes CO2 per capita. The USA is 7th with 22.1.
When you look at consumption, the USA comes out even worse. America consumes more per person than any other country. There are around 200 countries in the world, and the USA alone consumes about 25% of the energy.
America is still the biggest offender in "fucking up the planet".
China is a wonderfully clean and healthy place, as long as you don't breathe.
You can hold down the "B" button for continuous firing.
>And there's another myth - that 'being liberal' means having an open mind. The not-so-subtle implication of that statment is that you must also believe that anyone who is not 'liberal' does not have an open mind.
No myth there. Simple fact. Conservative, by definition, means NOT having an open mind. It means "wanting to conserve the status quo" - which is ipso facto a closed-minded approach.
Unicode killed the ASCII-art *