China Failing To Meet Energy And Climate Goal

China is falling short of energy efficiency goals that themselves fall short of the goals needed to reign in the greenhouse gas pollution that is causing global warming.

China's government has set a goal of reducing the "energy intensity" of its economy by 20% by 2010 -- reducing, in other words, the amount energy used per unit of gross domestic product. In the last quarter, it moved toward that goal, but showed that it was still far from reaching it: It shaved 2% off its energy intensity. But the growth in the overall economy shows the weakness of this measure -- a measure similar to one President Bush has discussed in relation to global warming emissions as a way to deflect attention from an overall increase in the country's pollution.

China's market reached a new high yesterday, even as the U.S. stock market continued to be volatile in the face of housing and credit worries. For China, which overtook the United States this year as the world's leading carbon dioxide polluter, the rate of emissions per economic unit doesn't matter if its overall pollution continues to grow, or even stabilize. The climate won't reverse its warming trend unless the world's nations reduce the overall load of pollution significantly, so as to avoid doubling the amount of atmospheric carbon, relative to pre-industrial times, by mid-century. Scientists have made that clear.

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