{"id":11370,"date":"2014-11-14T05:29:19","date_gmt":"2014-11-14T10:29:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/?p=11370"},"modified":"2014-11-14T05:51:00","modified_gmt":"2014-11-14T10:51:00","slug":"china-u-s-and-russia-energy-deals-bad-news-for-sabal-trail-fracked-methane-pipeline","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/2014\/11\/china-u-s-and-russia-energy-deals-bad-news-for-sabal-trail-fracked-methane-pipeline.html","title":{"rendered":"China, U.S., and Russia energy deals: bad news for Sabal Trail fracked methane pipeline?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\r\n\r\nThe U.S. and China made a historic deal on climate change this week.\r\n\r\n<\/a>\r\nHere’s the good (it’s real, it’s huge, and it’s positive economically\r\nfor both countries), the bad (nuclear is first on the list of those “clean energy” sources), and the ugly.\r\nAlso this week China made a second huge natural gas deal with Russia:\r\nwhat does that mean to the current U.S. push for LNG exports,\r\nincluding the proposed Sabal Trail pipeline gouge through Georgia?\r\n

The Deal<\/H3>\r\n

\r\nRebecca Leber, The New Republic, 12 November 2014,\r\n\r\nThe World Has Waited for the U.S. and China to Take Action on Climate Change. They Just Did.<\/a>\r\n

\r\n

\r\nPresident Barack Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping announced on\r\nWednesday commitments to reduce both countries’ greenhouse gas\r\nemissions. The surprise announcement, which came while Obama visits\r\nBeijing this week, is the clearest sign yet the two countries are\r\nserious on climate change.\r\n<\/p>\r\n

\r\nAfter months of negotiations with China, Obama has pledged the U.S.\r\nto cut emissions between 26 and 28 percent below 2005 levels by\r\n2025. This is double the pace of carbon cuts the U.S had already\r\npledged to reach by 2020.\r\n<\/p>\r\n

\r\nBut China’s commitments might be even more unexpected, because it is\r\nthe first time the growing economy has committed to a year for\r\ncapping its emissions—seen as a crucial step for avoiding the\r\nworst-case scenarios of global warming. Xi pledged this will happen\r\naround 2030, though it will try to reach this peak as early as\r\npossible. China also agreed to increase the share of energy that\r\ndoesn’t come from fossil fuels to 20 percent by 2030.\r\n<\/p>\r\n

\r\nTogether, the U.S. and China are responsible for 45 percent of\r\nglobal emissions. For that reason alone, they are the most closely\r\nwatched countries in the year before climate change negotiators\r\nconvene in Paris to set post-2020 goals that finally slow carbon\r\npollution.\r\n<\/p>\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n

\r\nNot that unexpected if you’ve been paying attention, as\r\n\r\nChina has to because of its beyond-hazardous air pollution<\/a>:\r\n