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.
