China grows by focus on future: Trump building up industries of Past...

[riversedge]

Sam Bonfante Retweeted
Fareed Zakaria‏Verified account @FareedZakaria Oct 12

China getting growth by focus on future. Trump seems engaged in futile quest to revive industries of past: My take

Link to tweet

China is winning the future. Here’s how.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/china-is-winning-the-future-heres-how/2017/10/12/6af2a370-af87-11e7-9e58-e6288544af98_story.html?utm_term=.23148a24287f




A model stands next to the all-electric I-Car. (Ng Han Guan/Associated Press)
By Fareed Zakaria Opinion writer October 12

This week, the front page of the New York Times described the Trump administration’s repeal of the Clean Power Plan, the Obama administration’s attempt to slash carbon emissions from coal-fired power plants. “The war on coal is over,” declared Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt. Right under that article was an article from halfway around the world detailing China’s massive new investment in electric vehicles, part of Beijing’s determination to dominate the era of clean-energy technology. It is a tale of two strategies.

The Trump administration has decided to move into a new century: the 19th century. Coal has been in decline for at least seven decades. In 1950, it accounted for half of all U.S. electricity generation. It is now down to a third. Additionally, massive automation of mining has meant that the jobs in the industry are disappearing, down from 176,000 in 1985 to 50,000 in 2017. Machines and software are replacing coal miners just as surely as in other industries. Demand for coal is weak because of alternatives, chiefly natural gas. In the past couple of years, many of the top American coal companies have been forced to declare bankruptcy, including the largest, Peabody Energy.

Despite President Trump’s policy shift, these trends are unlikely to change. Reuters found that, of 32 utilities in the 26 states that filed lawsuits over the Clean Power Plan, “the bulk of them have no plans to alter their multi-billion dollar, years-long shift away from coal.” The reason utilities are shedding coal is economics — the price of natural gas has plummeted in recent years, and its share of U.S. electricity generation has nearly tripled since 1990. In addition, costs are falling dramatically for wind and solar energy.


And, of course, coal is the dirtiest form of energy in use. Coal-fired power plants are one of the nation’s leading sources of carbon-dioxide emissions, and most scientists agree those emissions lead to global warming. They also cause terrible air pollution, with all its attendant health problems and costs.

That’s one of the reasons China, which suffers more than a million deaths a year because of poor air quality, is making huge investments in clean energy. The country has become one of the world’s leading producers of wind turbines and solar panels, with government subsidies enabling its companies to become cost-efficient and global in their aspirations. In 2015, China was home to the world’s top wind-turbine maker and the top two solar-panel manufacturers. According to a recent report from the United Nations, China invested $78.3 billion in renewable energy last year — almost twice as much as the United States. ...............................................

[Achilleaze]

1. republicans are systematically weakening America

republican lies about climate change are dangerous for America and the world, and causing us to lay aside such national plans as we had to deal with reality.

republican lies about coal and fracking are destroying America's natural environment, and placing America at a distinct economic and strategic disadvantage.

republican lies about health care are ensuring a future massive wave of bankruptcies among America's middle class as families are sucked dry by the Sickness Industry, Inc.

I could go on, of course, but it is Sunday...

[UCmeNdc]

2. The GOP lives in the past

They have no vision for the future. To Dotard Trump, the GOP, and GOP donors, the past is the future.

[Takket]

3. OH so you are back on the anti-45 train zakaria?

I thought you were good with him ever since in your eyes he became president when he launched on Syria.

Fuck zakaria. He is on the ground floor of the drumpf enabling media