(India too, but we're not supposed to see them as a threat right now)

"No gasoline-powered car assembled in North America would meet China's current fuel-efficiency standard.

...

To be sure, China faces massive environmental problems: For evidence, look no further than photos of Beijing's impressive Olympic venues, their dazzling architecture obscured by thick smog. The national government steamrolled opposition and common sense to build the monumental Three Gorges dam on the Yangtze River, ensuring ecological and human disaster. China has overtaken the United States as Earth's biggest spewer of greenhouse gases. It's opening new coal-fired generating stations at the rate of about one a week.

Still, it is doing far more than Canada, the U.S. or just about any other place to clean up its act. It has begun to impose regulations and targets for car emissions, renewable fuels, carbon storage, forest renewal, energy efficiency and industrial pollution. It's investing heavily in new technologies, including "clean" coal and alternative power sources. In many ways it's putting us to shame.

Its successes have, so far, been overwhelmed by the sheer size of its economy, and its rapid growth. As well, many people here simply refuse to see anything positive in the authoritarian powerhouse.

...

Experts there [Ottawa conference on the future of climate change action beyond 2012]– Canadian and American researchers, including a representative from a high-level group that advises Beijing – said, quite simply, China has decided to build a low-carbon economy. A couple of years ago, it wasn't considered polite to even mention climate change: Now, it's embedded in the latest five-year plan, which calls for a 20 per cent improvement in energy efficiency by 2010.

Some critics argue that, despite the apparently centralized government, the rhetoric from Beijing is far more impressive than the action on the ground, since many local officials still promote economic growth, or their bank accounts, at the expense of the environment. And apart from the increasing number buying cars, the green movement doesn't yet touch the average person.

Still, while it's early days, and many of the plans are, for now, a dog's breakfast, China is doing amazing things, one conference participant said.

Not surprisingly, although China wants to be seen as a good global citizen, the main push is self-interest.

This summer's Olympics provided an immediate jolt. China doesn't want foul air to spoil its coming-out extravaganza.

On top of that, pollution is taking a terrible health toll: It's among the country's leading causes of death. Climate change threatens to eliminate glaciers on the Tibetan Plateau that are the major source of water for China and much of Asia. Freak storms have unleashed death and economic destruction.

The car efficiency standards were inspired by looming fuel shortages and the soaring price of oil, which China must import.

And like forward thinkers here, Chinese leaders are also convinced there's gold in green. They dominate world trade in conventional exports. Why not in clean technology, too? For a start, China will soon introduce low-cost solar panels that are expected to take over the global market.

China also appears ready to be helpful with the next round of talks on emission targets. Under the agreement reached at Bali, targets are to be negotiated by the end of next year and come into effect in 2012. But that deal was a weak compromise, cobbled together just so the marathon conference wouldn't be viewed as a failure. With 200 nations divided into bickering groups, and complex issues to sort out, prospects for meeting the deadline are dim.

The key impasse is that the United States, backed by Canada, insists China accept commitments before it will move. China has given signs it will act, but wants a signal from the United States before it will go as far as it can. That could come soon after George W. Bush leaves office, since all three of the remaining presidential contenders support action on climate change.

The other message, though, is that China won't thump its chest about any of this. It doesn't want to be seen as a leader: It prefers stealth."

http://www.thestar.com/News/Ideas/article/326294

when will the leftwing irrational bush hatred stop? for the last time, he's not much more chimplike than a lot of people.

Huh? the article's about what?

Oh, that's very different then, sorry, never mind.

The Pope of the Chimps

by Robert Silverberg

"Nominated for Nebula Award for best short story, 1982. This is the moving story of a long-term chimpanzee sign-language project. When one of the scientists studying the chimps gets leukemia and talks to them about death, the chimps develop a religion. Humans are above chimps, and God is above humans. When chimps die, they become human; when humans die, they go to God. The time period is unspecified (apparently late twentieth century), and there is no technology mentioned. In fact, some might say it's not science fiction at all. An interesting side note is that Silverberg, himself atheist, assumes a more or less Christian perspective for the story. Another odd thing is that the first person narrator is never given a name."

it's online:

http://www.scifi.com/scifiction/classics/classics_archive/silverberg/silverberg1.html