From the Wall Street Journal:
Ningxia has cooperated with scientists from Britain and Canada on clean-energy programs and climate-change modeling. An official at the province’s meteorological department said local officials are very concerned because the region depends heavily on agriculture for its economy. …
Instead of trying to cap greenhouse-gas emissions, China’s leaders last year decided to try to reduce energy intensity, the amount of coal and other fuels the country burns relative to economic output. Chinese scientists say this will be a keystone of the new climate-change policy.
The government has required that key state-owned enterprises and provincial governors sign contracts pledging to reduce the amount of energy consumed relative to economic output by 20% over five years. The target was apparently missed for the first year it was set, but Chinese scientists say there’s still a chance the goal will be reached as the policy is more fully implemented. [Full Text, subscribers only]
