Your move America
Alright all you skeptics, time to find a new excuse. In the coming weeks China will unveil a massive multi-billion dollar renewable energy stimulus plan - an investment that FAR surpasses any action the United States is taking. And if you think the timing of which is anything but calculated you are naive. With world leaders converging in the Italian city of L'Aquila this week for the Group of Eight (G-8) summit, China's unprecedented plan is the talk of the town, and quite frankly is putting much needed pressure on the rest of the nations represented.
Though details are a bit vague right now, WattHead has written that, "a Chinese Energy Administration official has confirmed that the
investments will number at least $440 billion over 10 years. However,
there is still uncertainty about the range of investments and the date
when the Chinese Government’s renewable energy plan will be revealed."
WattHead also points out that, "By contrast, the American Clean Energy and Security Act invests only $6-12 billion per year in clean energy. As for the US "green stimulus," it includes a one-time clean energy spending boost of $112 billion--just half of China's $221 billion stimulus investment in green initiatives. Here's a sense of scale: If US investments in clean energy were on par with the Chinese in terms of percent GDP, we'd be spending $140-210 billion per year."
And what about India you say? Along with China, India has recently signaled that they are ready to invest in a cleaner future when its New and Renewable Energy Committee announced a massive National Solar Mission. In what one Greenpeace India representative called "the most ambitious solar plan that any country has laid out so far,"
Not all envivronmental news surrounding China, India, and the G8 has been great though. On the first day, they failed to get China and India to accept the goal of halving emissions of greenhouse gases by 2050 and the U.N. chief criticized the G8 for not going hard enough.
President Obama remains optimistic saying progress could still be made before talks on a new U.N. climate change treaty in Copenhagen in December.
America has hope, China and India have money. But do we all have time?