Imo the biggest obstacle to solving pollution is raising living standards in poor countries. India and China are eviscerating their own ecosystems as part of their growth phase. The faster these countries develop so they can start focusing on renewables, the better.
> China has more focus on renewables than the US at this point.
A meaningless statement as they continue to aggressively expand their use of coal and coal power plant manufacturing both domestically and across Asia.
China is nearly using as much coal as the rest of the world combined. They're using four to five times as much as the US.
Their actions are what matter, not their words. Their plans for renewables coincides with their plan to increase emissions perpetually as they see fit.
Apr 2019: "Edward Cunningham, a specialist on China and its energy markets at Harvard University, tells NPR that China is building or planning more than 300 coal plants in places as widely spread as Turkey, Vietnam, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Egypt and the Philippines."
Mar 2019: "The largest power producers in China have asked the government to allow for the development of between 300 and 500 new coal power plants by 2030 in a move that could single-handedly jeopardise global climate change targets. ... The cap would enable China to build 2 large coal power stations a month for the next 12 years, and grow the country’s capacity by an amount nearly twice the size of Europe’s total coal capacity."
