Tons of CO2 emitted per capita:
United States 16.4
China 7.1
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_carbon_di...
I feel like China can do a lot more.
China 1,367,030,000
United States 318,827,000
They do a lot more, you just saw a piece of the information.
The point is that if the Chinese had the standard of living that Americans have, everything would shoot through the roof. And considering that they don't, there's great potential for it to go wrong.
The whole "China shoving CO2 into the atmosphere" could just as well be stated "Americans driving large SUVs that dump CO2 into the atmosphere". It doesn't matter, we've all got to do our part.
A large SUV won't dump as much CO2 as industrial manufacturing, for example.
1. Members of the OECD must cut down on CO2 emissions. They far exceed China's emissions. Totals are what matter, and the OECD certainly has a higher total than China. China can't do anything so long as the OECD keeps pumping CO2 freely into the atmosphere.
2. North America must cut down on CO2 emissions. They far exceed that of South Asia.
We can think of it this way. A certain standard of living requires some degree of pollution + cost. It is not productive to ask the other guy to endure a poorer standard of living while you live large just because he, as an individual, lives in a place with more individuals. You can ask for that, but it isn't going to happen.
The distinction is important, because coal is seen as a cheap way of feeding China's relentless appetite for growth (or more specifically, the appetite for the perceived advantages brought by this "growth" to those who are in a social or political position to benefit from it.)
No words, just data: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f4/Carbon_Mo...