Tag: Global Warming

G7 Countries Borrow China’s Economic Strategy

Media Library

Midway through his face-to-face meeting with President Biden in Indonesia last fall, the Chinese leader, Xi Jinping, offered an unsolicited warning. Mr. Biden had in the preceding months signed a series of laws aimed at supercharging America’s industrial capacity and imposed new limits on the export of technology to China, in hopes of dominating the race for advanced energy technologies that could help fight climate change. For months, he and his aides had worked to recruit allied countries to impose their own restrictions on sending technology to China. The effort echoed…

U.S. Solar Makers Criticize Biden’s Tax Credits as Too Lax on China

Media Library

Biden administration rules released on Friday that will determine which companies and manufacturers can benefit from new solar industry tax credits are being criticized by U.S.-based makers of solar products, who say the guidelines do not go far enough to try to lure manufacturing back from China. The rules stem from President Biden’s sweeping clean energy bill, which offers a mix of tax credits and other incentives to try and spur the construction of more solar factories in the United States and reduce the country’s reliance on China for clean…

U.S. Car Brands Will Benefit Most From Electric Vehicle Tax Breaks

Chin@Strategy

American brands like Tesla and General Motors will benefit most from rules that determine which electric vehicles qualify for tax credits starting on Tuesday. Foreign carmakers like Hyundai will be at a significant disadvantage because of restrictions aimed at cutting China out of the supply chain. Only 10 vehicles will initially qualify for tax credits of $7,500, less than a quarter of the battery-powered cars on sale in the United States. But those 10 include many of the most popular models and accounted for two-thirds of electric vehicle sales before…

Polar Vortex Drives a Cold Snap in Asia

Chin@Strategy

Mohe, China’s northernmost city, recorded a temperature of minus 63.4 degrees Fahrenheit this week. That was the coldest in its recorded history, and cold enough to cause hypothermia within minutes in anyone who wasn’t dressed properly. “It has never been this cold,” Zhang Hong, 53, who runs a pancake shop in Mohe and has lived in the city for 30 years, said by phone on Friday. “It was so frosty outside,” she added. “The wind was so brisk that it felt as though it was shaving your nose and face.”…

The War in Ukraine Upended Energy Markets. What Does That Mean for the Climate?

Chin@Strategy

This article is part of our special report on the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland. As world leaders, chief executives and nonprofit leaders descend on Davos, Switzerland, for the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum next week, war will be raging about 1,000 miles away. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine almost one year ago has reordered the geopolitical landscape, sent ripples through the global economy and brought trench warfare back to Europe. Yet beyond the enormous human suffering and catastrophic damage inflicted on Ukraine, its people and…

Restoration of the Ozone Layer Is Back on Track, Scientists Say

Chin@Strategy

Under the protocol, assessments like the one issued Monday are required at least every four years. In addition to NOAA scientists, contributors included researchers with NASA, the World Meteorological Organization, the United Nations Environment Program and the European Commission. The new assessment also considered, for the first time, the effects on ozone of a potential type of climate intervention, or geoengineering. The method,known as stratospheric aerosol injection, is meant to cool the atmosphere by using airplanes or other means to distribute sulfur aerosols to reflect some of the sun’s rays…

Europe Reaches Deal for Carbon Tax Law on Imports

Chin@Strategy

The European Union has taken a step closer to adopting a groundbreaking carbon tax law that would impose a tariff on imports from countries that fail to take strict steps to curb their greenhouse gas emissions. E.U. member states and the European Parliament reached a preliminary agreement on the proposed law on Monday night, and while the bill has yet to undergo legal checks and get final approval, E.U. officials said they expected it to easily clear the final hurdles. “A historic agreement,” said Pascal Canfin, the chair of the…

John Kerry Plans to Meet With Biden to Discuss His Future as Climate Envoy

Chin@Strategy

John Kerry, President Biden’s climate envoy, was evasive when discussing his future on Wednesday, saying he had “no plans” to step down, but he would not say if he hoped to continue to represent the country in future global climate talks. Speaking from his Massachusetts home in his first interview since the United Nations climate summit last month in Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt, Mr. Kerry said he intended to talk with Mr. Biden next week “about the road ahead.” The midpoint in any administration is frequently a time of churn.…

Biden and Xi Break the Ice

Chin@Strategy

The leaders of the world’s 20 biggest economies are meeting this week in Indonesia. What they decide will go a long way toward shaping the global climate of the near future — and with it, the destiny of us all. The Group of 20 represents 80 percent of the greenhouse gas emissions warming the planet. The main headline: China and the U.S. are back on speaking terms. The White House announced that the United States and China would resume their climate talks. The news came after a three-and-a-half hour meeting…

China Is Burning More Coal, a Growing Climate Challenge

Chin@Strategy

China is poised to take advantage of the global urgency to tackle climate change. It is the world’s dominant manufacturer and user of solar panels and wind turbines. It leads the world in producing energy from hydroelectric dams and is building more nuclear power plants than any other country. But China also burns more coal than the rest of the world combined and has accelerated mining and the construction of coal-fired power plants, driving up the country’s emissions of energy-related greenhouse gases nearly 6 percent last year, the fastest pace…