Living in New York City for the fall after being a North Carolinian for three decades is giving me a widened perspective. For one, walking around the city when the United Nations, the Clinton Global Initiative, and many heads of state are all meeting here creates gridlock in the streets! New York seems a place of intensely local neighborhoods but also a world city, looking out from the harbor to the globe. This plus my review of a recent China Greentech study, along with my special interest given my daughter being from China and our having traveled there, has gotten me thinking about the role of China and the US, particularly the South, in climate change. A few of those thoughts:
- Climate change is accelerating and optimism about an international treaty to be negotiated in Copenhagen in December is waning given slow political progress on a low-carbon policy in US and China. (See Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s opening remarks to the UN Climate Change Summit Plenary here yesterday.)
- China’s rapid economic growth is continuing, despite the recession, with the IMF predicting 8% GDP growth in China will the world has -1% GDP reduction and the US -3%. (International Monetary Fund, “World Economic Outlook Update, July 2009″.)
- China produces most of its electricity from coal, and adds as much electric generation (90 gigawatts, GW) in one year at the total electric generation in the United Kingdom (78 GW)
- China’s population is twice that of all of the US and Europe combined.
- China and the United States are the largest carbon polluters, each emitting about 20% of the world’s carbon emissions. However, the US has only 5% of the world’s population while China has 20%.
- China will likely never agree to a binding international carbon reduction protocol unless the US agrees, despite encouraging carbon reduction and renewables growth voluntary goals stated by President Hu Jintao yesterday.
- US energy and climate legislation is stalled now in the Senate, and Southern Senators are a key group that is in opposition.
- The South has much to lose with global warming (witness Katrina) and much to gain in a low carbon economy – especially diversified employment in efficiency, recycling, solar, insulation, wind, sustainable agriculture, biomass, green IT and biotech companies.
- SJF can play a role in promoting the green, low-carbon economy as an upside opportunity for the country, and particularly the Southeast. (As we have done in our Green Economy Summit in NC in June, our Cleantech CEO Panels in NYC, the REBNs, through cleantech portfolio companies such as groSolar, RealWinWin, CleanScapes, Intechra … with many more to come).
Those are my Manhattan musings for today, I welcome your comments!
Dave Kirkpatrick
