Is Thomas Friedman Right About China?
Posted on 06. Oct, 2010 by astark in U.S.A.
Being here, an American in China, raises inevitable questions about green energy technology and US-China competition for economic and technological primacy. One thing is clear: China is racing to the future.
China has the most installed renewable electricity capacity of any country in the world. It is building a series of high-speed “bullet” train, one of which already commutes between Beijing and Tianjin in less than half an hour (it’s a three hour bus trip with traffic). It is the largest investor in green technology, and the world’s leading renewable energy producer, with 52.5 GW of renewable energy in 2009. China has some of the world’s most ambitious renewable energy targets as well, and is well on its way to exceeding them, having invested $34.6 billion on renewable energies in 2009. It is a leader in manufacturing and exporting solar and wind energy technologies.
And with a population of about 1.3 billion and an economy that’s managed to sustain an incredible growth rate of about 9%, it makes sense. China wants to be a world leader on green technologies, but it also must be in order to sustain this level of sustainable growth. With the devastating impact of floods this summer that could potentially be traced to climate change’s impacts, the economic benefits of transitioning to a greener economy and China’s rising leadership position on the world stage and at the UNFCCC talks, it seems like the right constellation has fallen into place for China to push even harder on these issues into the future.
I mentioned Thomas Friedman, the New York Times columnist, in the title of this post because he has received a lot of praise and criticism for his writing about China’s emerging green economy. At the end of September he reported from the World Economic Forum in Tianjin, which took place in the very same conference center (built incredibly in just nine months) that I’m sitting in now. Based on what I’ve seen in China and particularly in Tianjin, he’s a little bit wrong, but also quite right.
For one thing, just driving through Tianjin is enough to convince you that China is growing, and growing fast. Hundreds of brand new high-rise apartment buildings dot this city of more than 12 million, which is only the fifth largest city in China by metro population.
It also has a long way to go. As the week progresses here, the smog of pollution has descended upon the city, gradually lowering visibility and even permeating the conference center where the negotiations are taking place (seriously: the air smells acrid right now and it’s getting more and more difficult to see the other end of a long hallway). The bus that I took from the airport in Beijing to Tianjin couldn’t have been manufactured after 1970 and must have been emitting more than some of the electric-powered buses that I’ve seen around the conference center. Driving into the city, I saw a factory’s smokestack pouring black smoke into the sky. This is all not to mention the restrictions that the Chinese government places on creative freedom here, which could easily stifle future technological innovation-breaching the great fire wall is a feat on its own- and the voices of environmentally-inclined NGOS. So it’s reasonable to say that China’s incredible green growth and prowess should be taken with at least a grain or two of salt.
None of this is to suggest that the United States is perfect on these issues. On the contrary, the reason that I’m highlighting China’s progress is that it makes clear how far the US has to go. We’ve long been technological innovators on the forefront of the world’s creative thinking, but back at home we’re getting caught up in a false debate about whether or not climate change is real instead of pushing to remain globally competitive when it comes to renewable energy technologies.
I’d like to thing that the race to the future doesn’t have one winner, that we can all race together to get there. But let’s not be the losers of this epic race that could really, truly change the future of the world.
Yes, I agree it’s a mixed bag, not exactly as clear cut as Friedman laid it out in his articles.
But a minor point: many of the green tech that China is deploying originated in the U.S. So they are capitalizing on our R&D efforts when we collectively seem to lack the will to do so. I’d love to see how that could be changed. We need this race to be a 200+ way tie.
Hmm… that comment did not come out well.. may take another stab at it when I’ve had some sleep :)
Hey Alex, 5 subcommittee chairs of HFAC just sent letter to Clinton, cc’ed to Pershing, urging US support to create global climate fund in the UNFCCC. How do I send you the letter? you should ask Pershing what he thinks.