China, is appears, has been burning more coal than
previously announced (14% or 17% more, depending on the source). This is a lot of carbon by any
standards. My own recent experiences
with PRC is that they probably did not intend to do this, but they still have a
20th century bureaucracy (soon to be minus a few heads) that is
clueless about things like unintended consequences.
What should be of concern is our officials. Consider the possibilities:
- Our officials did not know. Hard to believe since they know Xi’s underwear color every day.
- They wanted to suppress the information and negotiate behind the scenes. After all the Chinese have made a 20 year climate commitment and are shocked by their own air quality.
- Revealing this data during the political campaign season would hurt/help key people.
- The addition of information like this feeds the science denial folklore
- There is more, possibly mercury data that they are burying.
All this is in the age of public pronouncements (by all) urging
more transparency….
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