Today the U.S. Department of Defense is the world’s largest institutional user of petroleum. Emissions by the U.S. military are greater than the total emissions of many small and medium-size countries.
The Quincy Institute has asked a slate of distinguished analysts to assess how the United States should change its relationship with China in order to prevent and mitigate climate chaos. They weigh in below with strategies and policies — and warn that continuing down the path of cold war may doom the planet.
Today the U.S. Department of Defense is the world’s largest institutional user of petroleum. Emissions by the U.S. military are greater than the total emissions of many small and medium-size countries.
The United States has now twice negotiated agreements to which it then failed to adhere—first the 1997 Kyoto Protocol that President George W. Bush scrapped, and then the Paris Agreement. No other country in the world has such a dismal record of withdrawing from environmental agreements.
Actions speak louder than words, and if United States and China are reducing emissions, other countries will, too.
However tempting it may be to back green demands with an iron fist, every threat of economic pressure against China will reinforce rather than weaken its addiction to cheap coal.
In a time of rising U.S.-China tensions, it might seem implausible or even unwise to call upon the two countries to work together to tackle this joint challenge. But both sides have much to gain by cooperation.
To avoid the worst consequences of climate change, the U.S. needs to decarbonize its electricity and transportation sectors by 2035 at the latest, a feat unimaginable without clean energy technologies that are currently primarily produced in China.
By greening our much-needed economic recovery following the Covid-19 pandemic, we can simultaneously upgrade America’s energy infrastructure, create green jobs, and reduce carbon emissions.