BBC Accommodates Excuse-Making for China's World-Leading Carbon Emissions

June 20th, 2007 8:38 AM

Iain Murray at Planet Gore yesterday predicted the enviro reaction to the news that China is already the world's biggest carbon emitter, and is running away from the rest of the world:

I look forward to complaints that China has only a sixth of the world's population but emits a quarter of its CO2, that Chinese auto emissions standards aren't good enough (Mr Gore?) and that China hasn't signed Kyoto .....

Murray didn't have to wait long.

The propagandists are already at work, with the willing help of the BBC:

(UK Foreign Office official John Ashton) pointed out that much of China's emissions growth was being driven by consumers in the West buying Chinese goods, and noted that China's emissions per person were still well below those of rich nations.

It is estimated that the average American still pollutes between five and six times more than the average Chinese person.

..... "Responsibility for China's soaring emissions lies not just in Beijing but also in Washington, Brussels and Tokyo," said Greenpeace UK director John Sauven.

"All we've done is export a great slice of the West's carbon footprint to China, and today we see the result.

..... "The West moved its manufacturing base to China knowing it was vastly more polluting than Japan, Europe or the US," he added.

"No environmental conditions were attached to this move; in fact the only thing manufacturers were interested in was the price of labour.

So Ashton says it's our fault that we're buying the stuff that the nation with the largest standing army on earth has been forced against their will (apparently) into making, and that we need to cut our emissions by 80%-85% to bring our emissions down to their level. Then we can live like the average person does in China. Uh, no thanks.

As to Suaven, he effectively says it's everybody's fault. (By the way, who was Vice President of the USA for eight years while so much of the outsourcing to China took hold?) So I guess there needs to be some kind of worldwide controlling regime that will browbeat everyone into cutting carbon emissions that "cause" global warming -- except that there hasn't been any since 1998. What a bunch of, well, globaloney.

In his daily e-mail this morning, Benny Peiser of CCNet calls the BBC "China's Mouthpiece" on this issue. Indeed.

NewsBuster Noel Sheppard wondered yesterday if the American media will notice. I would guess that they will, with the Beeb's template as guidance.

Cross-posted at BizzyBlog.com.