David Harsayni on the U.S.-China Climate Change Deal

At
a Beijing news conference, President Barack Obama called a new
China-United States climate deal a “historic agreement.” But there
are two problems with treating the deal as big news, argues David
Harsanyi: 1) we’re not really doing anything we weren’t going to do
anyway, and 2) neither is China.

Specifically, though, the United States pledges to impede its
own economic growth right now, in significant ways, while China
will be free to continue building coal-powered plants, expand its
economy, and cement its place as the world’s leading
polluter—perhaps even doubling its output against ours. Until 2030,
that is, or some year around that time, when China’s carbon
emissions are expected to peak. Specifics aren’t
important. The agreement contains no binding language
requiring any goals to be met. But in around 15 years, the
Chinese promise that they will implement some vague action plan.
All we need to do is trust them.  

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