Green

Green Technology, Climate Change, and the U.S. and China

The US and China are linked through climate change to a greater extent than most people think. This is due to the fact that the two countries combined contribute to over 40% of global greenhouse emissions. Orville Schell of the Center on U.S.-China Relations at New York’s Asia Society warned that relations between these two countries are at great risk of being derailed by the US congress. This could impact the United States’ edge on green technology, carbon sequestration, electric vehicles and even alternative energy. “The biggest roadblock to closer relations between the U.S. and China is the U.S. Congress. China because of its authoritarian government can both form, plan, and effect policy much more readily than the United States can. With Obama and his people-perhaps we’ve never had a more brilliant group-but they could run right into Congress,” he said.

Schell also warned that US fears of losing proprietary technology could ultimately end up damaging the future of American Technology. “When it comes to building the green economy, the U.S. is paralyzed by a fear that our intellectual property will be stolen. But what instead may actually happen is that we will miss the chance to take it to China-and eventually they will get it from somewhere else.” Schell also cited the fact that China is moving rapidly in terms of climate change. He went on to point out that they have already installed electric vehicles in their major city’s public transportation systems. Pointing out that China is also a leader in wind turbine production and photovoltaic cells he said “the opportunity now is to collaborate.”