An independent environmental research group has issued a report indicating that the Peoples Republic of China is poised to become a worldwide leader in renewable energy technologies.
“I think China will be number one in less than three years in every renewable energy market in the world,” said Worldwatch president Chris Flavin.
“A major new renewable energy law came into force (in China) at the beginning of 2006. Here we sit two years later and the results of that are already becoming clear,” he said.
“Although there are some great success stories in Europe in terms of renewable energy, I don’t think anyone can compare with China in terms of the speed with which new markets have been created and in the comprehensiveness and effectiveness of new laws.”
Worldwatch has researched China’s progress on the environment. While noting that China’s carbon emissions have increased, the country’s policies have also lead to a dramatic increase in the use of renewable energy sources.
“China will likely achieve—and may even exceed—its target to obtain 15 percent of its energy from renewables by 2020. If China’s commitment to diversifying its energy supply and becoming a global leader in renewables manufacturing persists, renewable energy could provide over 30 percent of the nation’s energy by 2050.” China is already the leading global manufacturer of affordable energy efficient fluorescent light bulbs.
Worldwatch writes on its website: “China is expected to invest over $10 billion in new renewables capacity in 2007, second only to Germany. Wind and solar energy are expanding particularly rapidly in China, with production of wind turbines and solar cells both doubling in 2006. China is poised to pass world solar and wind manufacturing leaders in Europe, Japan, and North America in the next three years, and it already dominates the markets for solar hot water and small hydropower.”
The research by Worldwatch highlights the contradictions of China today. China, prior to the revolution in 1948, was a semi-feudal, semi-colonial nation, with a seriously underdeveloped economy. Since the revolution, the Chinese people have struggled to develop a modern economy under the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party. The rapid progress made by China recently in terms of renewable energy could not have happened without the leadership of the CCP.
On the other hand, China is also poised to become the biggest single producer of greenhouse gases, although per capita emissions are only one-sixth of those from the United States. Nonetheless, the CCP has been following a policy of the misnamed “market socialism,” which has allowed for industrial development largely on a capitalist basis. Capitalist enterprises in China are responsible for a growing and serious problem of pollution for China’s air and water. The environmental and economic contradictions are clear.
For revolutionaries who stand in solidarity with the Chinese revolution, it is important to maintain a critical and independent class stance when analyzing news about China and the environment.
The Bush administration is fond of pointing the finger at China’s growing carbon emissions, demanding that China and other developing nations reduce emissions as a condition for emissions reductions by the United States. This stance draws an equal sign between developing nations and imperialist oppressor nations that developed their economies over the course of centuries, at the expense not only of the environment but also through exploiting the labor, resources and markets of the formerly colonized nations.
Examining environmental and development policies within China also requires an independent stance. The problem of environmental pollution shows the weakness of the “capitalist road” development policies adopted in the past 30 years. The rapid progress made by China in developing renewable energy shows the power of the leadership of the CCP.
Bourgeois media criticism of China regarding the environment describes real problems. All carbon emissions, regardless of their origin, contribute to global warming for the entire planet. However, the capitalist media and politicians do not criticize China in order to help the China move in a more revolutionary socialist direction. Instead, their intention is to stimulate an overthrow of the current leadership and replace it with a compliant, neo-colonial regime.
In related news, China has recently imposed measures to reduce pollution from plastic shopping bags. The thinnest plastic bags have been banned, and stores will be forced to charge for other plastic bags. The goal of the measure is to encourage people to return to using cloth bags and reusable baskets for grocery shopping.
