this post was submitted on 04 Apr 2026
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China is doing an amazing job on the renewables front no doubt
But they are also doing a fantastic job installing new coal power plants
https://www.carbonbrief.org/chinas-construction-of-new-coal-power-plants-reached-10-year-high-in-2024/
https://www.carbonbrief.org/guest-post-just-15-countries-account-for-98-of-new-coal-power-development/
This is something they are choosing to do willingly, knowing they are the highest polluting country in the world by far
I also think the American regress is overstated
We are still seeing records broken on the regular: https://reneweconomy.com.au/grid-batteries-reach-stunning-new-peak-of-44-pct-of-evening-demand-in-worlds-fourth-biggest-economy/
A big part of this is because right wing people think renewables are economically bad and ideologically motivated, whereas in reality they are economically sound and the right wingers are the ones who are driven by ideology
The opposite, I live in reality, remember the planet doesn't care about per capita, only actual output ;)
I wouldn't call it undermining. China adding coal capacity while scaling renewables is not evidence of hypocrisy. It’s evidence of a system trying to meet rising demand and stabilize a grid during rapid buildout. Both things can be true at once without one cancelling the other.
You think right wing people think? Brrruhhhhh....
Really? You don't think building 500 coal power plants is undermining their clean energy goals? What would it take? 1000 coal power plants?
You don't think other countries are also trying to meet rising demand and stabilise their grids? I think Germany might like a word and last I saw they weren't building 500 new coal power plants
I wouldn't be talking shit about anyone, you just gave China (the current number 1 highest co2 emitter in the world by far) a free ride to pollute as much as possible while giving the USA shit for 'regressing' despite the fact the USA isn't even doing half the co2 output China is
I guess the USA can regress another few million tons of co2 a day since it's trying to meet rising demand and stabilise its grid
I could Google this. But I'm just curious what ya think...
What do you think the population of China is?
What do you think the population of Germany is?
Are those numbers not many orders of magnitude different?
Talking shit? Free rides?
What's the population of America?
And the funny thing about America - if you consider just them and ignore everybody else on the planet - just America's emissions are not sustainable. And that's only a few hundred million people. Not billions.
The thing about China, though. They're leading the world in renewables. And if you had any sense then you'd realize renewables typically only work optimally occasionally. Things like wind power only work when there's wind. Solar when there's sun. Whereas coal/oil/gas you can burn 24/7/365 until there's no more dinosaur corpses or ancient forests left to burn.
Sure, China is currently the largest annual emitter of CO₂. That’s mainly because it’s the world’s manufacturing base plus a massive ongoing infrastructure and energy expansion. But per person, the U.S. is still higher! Americans emit significantly more CO₂ per capita than Chinese citizens.
Fossil fuels are still used for dispatchability in many places(China), but batteries, grid interconnects, and demand-shifting are changing that equation fast.
You ignore history. The USA - cumulatively - has produced a lot more pollution than China - cumulatively.
hey already responded about population here
https://aussie.zone/post/31299070/22304750
also india has a bigger population than china, you can compare co2 emissions