China slammed the U.S. Supreme Court ruling limiting Washington’s ability to regulate power sector emissions and told the Biden White House to push ahead with its climate agenda.
China, the world’s biggest emitter of green house gases, lectured President Joe Biden to “fulfill climate duties” following the SCOTUS ruling, the news agency Reuters reported Friday.
While Beijing makes huge investments in setting up new coal and nuclear power plants, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told the Biden administration and other Western nations to “face up to their historical responsibilities and show greater ambition and action.”
Strong words from Beijing come after a major Supreme Court ruling Thursday which limited the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) ability to restrict power sector emissions.
The Reuters reported Chinese minister’s statement:
[China’s foreign ministry spokesman] Zhao told reporters at a regular briefing that the ruling had been criticised by the international community, adding that “it is not enough to just shout slogans to tackle climate change”.”We urge developed countries, including the United States, to… face up to their historical responsibilities and show greater ambition and action,” he added. (…)”The ruling carries profound implications and will significantly weaken the conditions for future U.S.-China climate talks,” said Li Shuo, senior adviser with Greenpeace.
The Biden White House shares Beijing’s outrage over the SCOTUS decision. Biden’s Climate Czar, John Kerry, vowed to ram down administration’s climate policies despite the ruling.
Kerry declared Friday that “we’re going to meet our goals … and the president is going to continue to fight for legislation from the Congress,” in the wake of the decision.
The Associated Press reported Kerry’s defiant remarks:
“We absolutely are convinced we can meet our goals,” Kerry said.Biden has pledged to cut the nation’s greenhouse gas emissions in half by the end of the decade and to have an emissions-free power sector by 2035. Despite two Democrats joining with Republicans to block what was supposed to have been transformative legislation moving the United States to cleaner energy, Biden has managed to free significant funding for electric charging stations and some other moves.The EPA has pledged to release alternative regulation to limit climate damage from the power sector early next year. Kerry cited continuing progress in climate efforts abroad this year, including more governments committing to faster cuts in emissions and more signing a U.S.-backed methane pledge targeting climate-damaging leaks, venting and flaring from natural gas industries.“This decision by the Supreme Court … is disappointing, but … it doesn’t take away our ability to do a whole bunch of things that we need to get done,” Kerry said.“President Biden has enormous authority to continue to move forward. We are going to move forward. I am absolutely confident about our ability to continue to offer leadership on a global basis, which we’re doing right now.”
The criticism of SCOTUS ruling also came from the United Nations. “Decisions like the one today in the U.S. or any other major emitting economy make it harder to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement,” UN Nations spokesman Stephane Dujarric lamented, referring to the 2015 international climate accord nixed by the Trump administration.
In November 2020, President Trump pulled the U.S. out of the climate accord. The Biden administration rejoined the pact in February 2021, ‘apologizing‘ publicly for Trump’s withdrawal.
The Biden administration has committed itself to the Obama-backed Paris pact despite its disastrous consequences for the U.S. economy and jobs. Honoring the Paris agreement for the next two decades will cost the U.S. “close to $3 trillion in lost GDP and 6.5 million industrial jobs, while households would have $7,000 less income,” the Trump White House estimated.
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