Richard Muller: Naked Copenhagen

Richard Muller: Naked Copenhagen
"Every 10% cut in the U.S. is negated by one year of China's growth.

By 2040 China could be the most economically dominant nation on earth.
The West might be able to cajole it, but won't be able to impose sanctions on China. Temperature will be at the mercy of the newly powerful economies.

Moreover, an expensive effort to reduce Western emissions sets a worthless example.
Only emissions cuts that provide measurable economic benefit to the developing nations will be adopted by them.
If the 80% U.S. emissions cut winds up hurting the U.S. economy, it guarantees China will never follow our example.

Cheap green energy is not going to be easy.
Coal is dirt cheap, and China has been installing a new gigawatt coal plant each week—enough to supply five completely new cities the size of New York every year."