Huchen Lu/istockphoto
DCL
"Great Wall of Traffic" is a term used by Paul Krugman of the New York Times to discuss not only China's traffic issues but also the fact that China is the world's largest producer of carbon dioxide. In a May 15, 2009 op-ed, Krugman writes about his visit to the world's most populous nation, admitting that much of his time was "spent viewing the Great Wall of Traffic."
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"China's emissions," he explains, "which come largely from its coal-burning electricity plants, doubled between 1996 and 2006. That was a much faster pace of growth than in the previous decade." Equally as frightening is the response Krugman got when he asked about this planet-threatening trend. "Each time I raised the issue during my visit," he says, "I was met with outraged declarations that it was unfair to expect China to limit its use of fossil fuels. After all, they declared, the West faced no similar constraints during its development."
While this "logic" may pacify some, imagine if China instituted chattel slavery and declared its right to do so simply because the U.S. was built on the backs of slaves.
Note to my fellow Americans: China's per-capita emissions are still far below U.S. levels. In other words, there's a Great Wall of Owning Up we need to build.
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