“No matter how other countries’ policies on climate change, as a responsible large developing country China’s resolve, aims and policy moves in dealing with climate change will not change”, he said.
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While Republicans have blamed Obama-era environmental regulations for the loss of coal jobs, federal data show that US mines have been losing jobs for decades because of automation and competition from natural gas; solar panels and wind turbines now can produce emissions-free electricity cheaper than burning coal.
“The Paris Agreement is still under discussion within the administration”, White House spokesman Sean Spicer said.
Trump on Wednesday chose to radically change the policies of his predecessor Barack Obama, who had worked hard with China to reach a global consensus on the deal to restrict average global temperature rise to 2C above pre-industrial levels.
Bloomberg said that mistake is “overestimating Washington’s ability to influence energy markets, and underestimating the role that cities, states, businesses and consumers are playing in driving down emissions on their own”.
In response to the president’s executive order, Dave Adkisson, Kentucky Chamber President and CEO, said, “We applaud the president’s commitment to supporting domestic energy production and ensuring affordable energy costs”.
Trump’s policies could in turn nudge up the global rise in temperatures by about 0.1 degree Celsius (1.8 Fahrenheit) from a projected 2.8 degrees (5.0F) by 2100, based on existing government pledges for action, he said.
Smith said, “Renewable resources, energy-efficient measures, things that we can do to improve the environment, have clean air, clean water – those are always on the forefront”. A lot of those emission cuts are going to happen anyway, because they just make economic sense. Researchers say that means carbon dioxide emissions are likely to peak before 2025, well ahead of the official target.
According to an Energy Department analysis released in January, coal mining now accounts for fewer than 75,000 U.S.jobs. First, cheap gas from fracking undercut the coal price, and then even solar power got cheaper than coal. Coal’s share of total energy consumption fell to 62 percent from 2015’s 64 percent.
Under the Paris accord, the USA agreed to reduce its carbon emissions 26 percent to 28 percent below the levels emitted in 2005. “Clean coal” may come to fruition someday but can not be used as an argument today for the burning of traditional coal.
The development plan calls for doubling the share of China’s energy from non-fossil fuels to 20 percent by 2030.
The Clean Power Plan was an important part of the U.S. commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the country by 26 to 28 per cent below their 2005 levels by the year 2025.
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The order also lifts a 14-month-old moratorium on new coal leases on federal lands. That’s in opposition to the Obama administration’s estimates.
