US praises China as communist dictatorship's carbon emissions hit record high
China’s carbon emissions hit a record high this quarter after Biden officials praised the country for its efforts to “fight climate change”.
As the world’s largest emitter of carbon dioxide, China makes up 26.1% of the world’s carbon emissions, more than the US and Europe combined, according to International Energy Agency data from 2018.
For the first three months of 2023, China’s carbon emissions increased 4% month-on-month compared to the same period last year. The country has experienced a 1.4% increase in natural gas consumption, a 3.6% increase in coal consumption, and a 5.5% increase in oil consumption in the first quarter alone.
The news comes after Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm in March said the United States should learn from China how to properly “fight climate change”.
Granholm made the remarks during the annual SXSW conference in Austin, saying China "has been very sensitive, and has actually invested a lot in their solutions, to achieve their goals."
"We're hopeful that, you know, we can all learn from what China is doing," she continued, adding that "the amount of money that they’re investing in clean energy is actually, you know, encouraging."
But while China has been increasing its coal, oil and gas consumption, and carbon emissions, the Biden administration has been forcing Americans to make sacrifices to limit their carbon dioxide production, including a proposed ban on gas stoves which New York is implementing.
In a hearing before the House Energy, Climate, and Grid Security Subcommittee last week, Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) slammed Granholm for spending millions in taxpayer funds on environmental projects which are supplied by China.
“Foundational to our lives and our future is access to affordable, reliable energy. Today, I am deeply troubled that DOE, under your leadership, has put America on a dangerous path that harms our energy security and benefits our adversaries, mainly China,” McMorris Rodgers said to Granholm in her opening statement.
“DOE is spending hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars to force an energy transition on Americans with the false promise of 100% wind, solar, and battery powered energy, the supply chains for which are basically controlled by adversarial China,” continued the congresswoman. “At the same time, the administration is threatening to ban natural gas stoves and other home appliances that Americans rely on.”
Granholm admitted in the hearing that her department had approved $200 million in grants for Microvast, a lithium battery manufacturer operating out of the People’s Republic of China.
"They're essentially shipping jobs overseas, they're transitioning to technologies that are found in China, rare earth materials that they blocked here, they go get out in China, we have all the oil and natural gas that we'll ever need right under our feet in the United States of America," Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-MO) told Fox News.
"Bringing those jobs home, bringing those supply chains home, making sure we're tapping American energy, having robust exploration is really important," he continued. "We should not be shifting this focus to China."
