Like President Bush, I believe any successful international effort to lower greenhouse gas emissions and address climate change must include the participation of countries such as India and China. Two news items today indicate some positive movement.
An article in The Economist relates that India is in the process of developing an internal policy on climate change. It might not have a lot of teeth at the outset, but at least India is acknowledging the need to do something.
Also, Forbes notes that while in China to discuss that country’s currency mess Treasury Secretary Paulson took some time to discuss climate change with provincial leaders in western China who may already be witnessing its effects in the region. Secretary Paulson’s green streak is well known, and I think it’s noteworthy for a cabinet secretary to be discussing the issue with the Chinese.
These are small steps to be sure. And the more America does domestically to reduce its own greenhouse gas emissions the more pressure will be felt by nations such as India and China will be to join an international climate effort, I believe. Its not enough to simply talk the talk, America needs to walk the walk by adopting a market-based climate policy of its own. Maybe we’ll speak softly and then see the need to wield a big stick – some forcing mechanism may be required to get heavy carbon polluters to play ball.
This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 31st, 2007 at 9:23 am and is filed under Climate Change, International Environmental News . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
