Researchers: China, not the U.S., is the world's biggest carbon polluter

No confetti will stream down, and balloons will not drop from the ceiling, but the U.S. is apparently no longer the world's top carbon polluter. That's the good news. The bad news is that somebody else is an even bigger polluter than we are.

China, according to this BBC story, has passed the U.S. at the top of that particularly dark (as in coal) list we have occupied for decades, back when global warming really was a legitimate issue of debate in the scientific community. Researchers at the University of California, in a study to be published next month in the Journal of Environment Economics and Management, suggests China's greenhouse gas emissions have been underestimated, and probably passed those of the U.S. last year. You'll note that the Environmental Protection Agency map above (included in the BBC story) only tracks carbon emissions in the two countries to 2004.

So what does this mean? It shows that addressing emissions of greenhouse gases is going to require a global effort. That's a given. In other ways, it kind of justifies this country's reluctance to take aggressive actions to slash carbon emissions. More specifically, it would seem to justify not signing onto the Kyoto protocol that would have mandated sharp reductions in greenhouse gases here, but not in China and another emerging economy -- India, which is already a huge source of carbon emissions. But I would also argue that it means we here in the U.S. need to take aggressive action now. Despite the fact we make up less than 5 percent of the world's population, we still account for a quarter of its carbon emissions. And, as I said earlier, we have long been the biggest carbon polluter in the world, so we need to do our part. Americans' everyday activities produce more carbon emissions, per capita, than any other country. But we also need to understand this is a global issue. The Bush administration, to its credit, has set up a program that will provide billions to developing countries to purchase technology that limits pollution. That's a good step. We'll see if the White House develops regulations to limit greenhouse gases, as has been reported.

-- Scott Streater