When it comes to climate change, to the human effects on the vast, chaotic, ancient systems that make up this system that is literally planetary in scope, the climate activists seem to be focused on only the Western world. Climate scolds point their shaking fingers at the United States and at the nations of Europe, for the most part, shouting "You must cut your carbon output, or the planet will burn! You must give up your SUV for a cramped electric vehicle (EV), you must give up your house for an apartment, you must give up your suburban or rural lifestyle for a 15-minute city, you must eat bugs, you must cut back, cut back, cut back your energy-hungry modern lifestyle."
These efforts are aimed at the United States and the nations of Europe not because these nations are the primary culprits in carbon output or environmental issues; they aren't. No, the climate scolds direct their harangues at the USA and Europe because the governments of those nations are the least likely to directly and unambiguously tell the scolds where to head in.
That's why it seems we rarely see the scolds focusing their ire on the world's champions of carbon emissions, on the world's No. 1 user of coal in electrical generation, a fuel that puts out more carbon (if you're worried about that sort of thing; I'm not) than natural gas or nuclear power: China.
Communist countries, those bastions of central planning, are fond of Five-Year Plans. China's latest such, their 15th Five-Year Plan (2026–2030) has called for quite a bump up in coal production, and we haven't heard much about that from the scolds.
China’s 15th Five-Year Plan (2026–2030) and later targets have called for, among other measures, the creation of around 100 million tonnes/year of coal production-capacity reserve (production+net imports-consumption) by 2030.
Over the past 25 years, China has also substantially increased coal production, with output more than tripling. China’s coal supply surplus (production-net imports-consumption) is already around 600 Mt/year, roughly six times the target. Domestic production already exceeds demand by around 120MT per annum.
That's a lot of coal. By comparison, the United States' best numbers for coal production run around 512.5 million short tons, or about 464.9 tonnes (metric tons). The difference is that the United States has been historically ramping down coal use (although it has increased again in the last couple of years), not because of climate concerns so much as the fact that natural gas and nuclear power are cleaner but also more efficient. China still relies on coal for more than half of its electrical generation capacity, where the United States only generates about 15 percent of their electricity with coal.
In large part because of this, China is far and away the greatest producer of human-sourced CO2 on the planet. China alone produces about a third of the human-sourced CO2 on the planet.
Now, don't get me wrong. I'm not overly worried about Chinese CO2. We have covered, on many occasions in many pieces right here at RedState, how human-produced CO2 isn't the booger-man that the scolds claim it is. In fact, a slight increase in atmospheric CO2 is good for us in many ways, not the least of which is the greening of the planet and increases in crop yields. The fact is, a slight warming and a slight increase in CO2 levels in the atmosphere, which we have been seeing since the end of the last major glaciation, will make things better overall for most of humanity.
No, it's the hypocrisy of the scolds that rankles here. Of course, China cares not a jot about what the scolds think, which may be reason for some of the scolds' reticence where the Middle Kingdom is concerned. And, as Not A Lot Of People Know That's Paul Homewood points out, China isn't about to back away from their coal production, nor are they going all-in for "renewables" the way the Chinese Communist Party claims.
The simple truth is that China will remain heavily dependent on coal for many years to come. Ignore the misinformation about a “weakening coal power sector” – last year it dropped from 5836 to 5755 TWh, a drop in the ocean. Coal power still supplies 54% of China’s electricity.
The Chinese know that they cannot run their power grid on intermittent renewables alone, so coal will remain the major player.
Moreover coal still accounts for 57% of China’s primary energy, against just 6% for renewables.
China's course is set, and they aren't changing any time soon. Nor should they, honestly; China's government, like any government anywhere, should place China's interests first. That's what national governments are supposed to do.
But the scolds are missing a big opportunity in this manner. They claim to be about science; they aren't. They claim to be concerned about the global climate, that vast, chaotic, ancient system with billions of inputs and outputs, with cycles in ocean currents, wind patterns, and even orbital patterns that operate on scales of hundreds to millions of years; they aren't. They claim to be worried about the environment, but many of them are never out in the environment. If any of that were true, they would be focusing their activism at China.
They aren't. And that speaks volumes. They focus their ire where they can influence policy, and that means the United States and Europe. They focus their energies on seeking to have more and more control over our economic decisions and our lifestyles, because this isn't about the climate, it's not about the environment, it's about control; it's part and parcel of the standard operating practices of the left, who are all about choice as long as it's a choice they approve of.
Remember that on November 3rd. Remember that, and get yourself to the polls at all costs, to cast another vote against this overbearing agenda. Vote! Vote! Vote!
