Expert Blog

This year looks to be the biggest Earth Hour thus far for the World Wildlife Fund in China. The WWF announced earlier this week that Beijing’s Forbidden City would be among the noted monuments around the world to go dark for the annual one-hour event on March 27 to raise environmental awareness. WWF China Director Dermot O’Gorman told me that hundreds of community organizations have signed on to participate, and the program now has 30 cities signed on in China almost double last year’s number. O’Gorman said cities like Earth Hour as a way to “show how they contribute to a global effort to raise awareness,” as well as linking the event to their energy efficiency campaigns.

There has been a lot of concern in the media (see Green Inc. and Washington Post articles) and in the U.S. Senate recently about stimulus grants for wind energy projects going to China and other foreign countries. On March 3rd, a group of Senators called for the suspension of the renewables grant program until rules had been passed that made sure projects used American components and labor. But there is more to that story than meets the eye.

Empirical evidence demonstrates that predictable support for wind power improves local manufacturing capacity and creates local jobs. Consistent support in the form of the stimulus and long term programs such as a Renewable Energy Standard will give investors the certainty they need to plan and create jobs in the United States.

China recently confirmed an ambitious goal to reduce its economy’s carbon intensity by 40-45% from 2005 levels by 2020. WRI’s China Director Zou Ji, a former Chinese climate negotiator, discusses the significance of this step by the world’s largest greenhouse gas emitter, and what it means for China’s relations with the United States and the world.