, Columnist
Clear Skies Won’t Help China’s $167 Billion Dam
Beijing has managed to keep its emissions under control. Years of drought are threatening to undo that progress.
A parched river bed along the Yangtze River.
Source: AFP/Getty Images
The world’s biggest polluter is keeping emissions under control. It’s getting no help from the weather.
Electricity generation from thermal power stations in China fell 1.3% through July this year. Combined with a 4.5% drop in cement production and 3.1% fall in steel, that’s a sign that coal consumption is still falling, even as factory activity continues to grow. Given the country is responsible for about a third of all carbon emissions, that’s unalloyed good news.