China’s Goals for Going Green

July 18, 2011

Until recently, the United States was the largest consumer of energy in the world.

To put that in perspective, Americans make up only 5% of the world’s population and yet consumed 20% of the energy the last year the US was number one.

Now, China, with about 20% of the world’s population, consumes more energy than the US.

In 2010, China consumed 4,190,000,000-megawatt hours of electricity to serve 1.3 billion people, while in 2009, the US consumed 3,741,485,000-megawatt hours of electricity for 310,880,317 people. Source: Wikipedia’s List of countries by electric energy consumption

A better idea might be to compare India to China since these countries have similar sized populations. Nation Master’s energy consumption chart shows India in 6th place with 568,000,000-megawatt hours consumed, while China used more than 7 times that number.

China’s goal is to have a middle class equal to America, which may reach as high as 66% of households.

Do a little math and you soon discover how much energy China may have to produce to support a middle class of about 858 million people, which is 66% of 1.3 billion.

In fact, China may need to produce about 16 billion-megawatt hours of electricity to achieve that goal.

Along with those numbers comes another staggering headache — pollution and a potential environmental disaster of epic proportions.

However, China is struggling to deal with this challenge by going green.

The June 2011, National Geographic Magazine (NGM) asked this question — Can China Go Green? Then attempted to answer it.

NGM said, “No other country is investing so heavily in clean energy. But no other country burns as much coal to fuel its economy.”

One unidentified Beijing-based official said, “China seeks every drop of fuel—every kilowatt and every kilojoule it can get a hold of — for growth.”

“That Chinese consumer revolution has barely begun,” NGM said. “As of 2007, China had 22 cars for every 1,000 people, compared with 451 in the U.S.”

Discover more at China’s Middle Class Expanding, China’s Middle Class Defined, Copy Cat Middle Class in China and The Middle Class Bulge.

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Lloyd Lofthouse is the award-winning author of My Splendid Concubine [3rd edition]. When you love a Chinese woman, you marry her family and culture too. This is the lusty love story Sir Robert Hart did not want the world to discover.

#1 - Joanna Daneman review posted June 19 2014

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7 Comments | America, China, Chinese middle class, economy, environment | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Lloyd Lofthouse

Riots

July 17, 2011

When the Western media reports that a riot happened in China, do not mistake this unrest as a demand for a Western style democracy as the media did when the Tiananmen Square protests took place in 1989. Just because a few young people are captured on camera saying they want a democracy in China, that does not mean the majority of Chinese do.

For example, CNN reported a June 10, 2011 riot in Xintang located in southern China.

Witnesses and media reports said local officials beat up a pregnant migrant worker and her husband, pushing the woman to the ground. Mass protests ensued, quickly spiraling to violent clashes with government forces that spread to other parts of Xintang, a city of 400,000 residents, almost half of them migrant workers.

The result was the arrest of 19 men, which included nine teenagers.

If you read the CNN report, you will discover that a slowdown in economic growth (caused by the 2008 global financial crises, which started in the US) in China has caused social tensions between rural versus urban, ethnic minority against majority, and haves versus have-nots, which has led to several riots in different areas of China.

The same thing happened in 1947 when General (and dictator) Chiang Kai-shek ordered his army to quell a riot in Taiwan. The result was the 2/28 Massacre in Taiwan where 30,000 civilians were killed by the military.

The reasons for riots around the world seldom have to do with a demand for a Western style democracy. Even in the Middle East where there have been riots and calls for democracy (according to the Western media), most of the people involved don’t know what a democracy is or how to set one up. They just want some form of social justice.

In 1992, in Los Angeles, there was the Rodney King riot caused by ethnic strife, which ended with about $1 billion in property damages with 53 people killed and thousands injured. The US Marines and Army had to be called in to regain control and there were shootings between the military and civilians.

Recently, in Oakland, California, there have been several riots due to the 2009 killing of an unarmed black man that took place at a BART station.  Hundreds took to the streets to protest while looters broke into stores and set cars on fire.

In 2001, England had riots in three cities due to tensions in the South Asian Islamic community. It was estimated that the riot in Bradford, England involved about a 1,000 youths and eventually 1,000 police to end it.

A recent riot in Vancouver erupted after the Canucks lost the Stanley Cup.  After the game, many teenagers went on a rampage attempting to shatter store windows and loot stores.  When one man tried to stop them, he was jumped by no fewer than 15 people, who beat and kicked him until he was left a bloodied heap on the ground.

Wikipedia lists many of the reasons for riots, which may stem from the unlawful use of force by a group of police against civilians, prison riots, race riots, religious riots, student riots, urban riots, sports riots, and food/bread riots, which have taken place all over the world no matter what form of government a country has.

However, when the Western media reports riots in China, it is usually mentioned that China’s central government is challenged to prevent widespread grievances from taking place as if riots in China are different.

According to the history of riots, this challenge of an unruly civilian population is a problem all governments eventually face and the job of governments the world over is to end the killing and damage as soon as possible by whatever means to restore order.

In fact, Matthew 26:52 warns, “Then said Jesus unto him, Put up again thy sword into his place: for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword,” which may also means if you take part in a riot, you risk death or injury.

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Lloyd Lofthouse is the award-winning author of the concubine saga, My Splendid Concubine & Our Hart. When you love a Chinese woman, you marry her family and culture too.

To subscribe to “iLook China”, look for the “Subscribe” button at the top of the screen in the menu bar, click on it then follow directions.

1 Comment | America, American culture, China, Chinese Culture, Chinese police, crime, legal system, media | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Lloyd Lofthouse

Hard Landing for Who?

July 15, 2011

A friend sent me a link to a CNBC piece, and said, “I’m concerned how we are all so linked together economically.  if the republicans and democrats don’t come together, and the US defaults at some level of government, that could screw up China and other places as well setting off some sort of global chaos—that really scares me.”

After reading the CNBC piece, I could see why my friend was concerned.

On June 14, CNBC played on the “fear factor” and it worked.  The headline for the CNBC piece was ‘Meaningful Probability’ of Hard Landing for China: Roubini.

In the third paragraph, CNBC tells us “New York-based Roubini is closely followed by Wall Street because he predicted the U.S. housing meltdown that precipitated the global downturn.”

After establishing Roubini’s credentials, the piece focused on the US’s economic future and the language changed to “it is a glass that is half full and half empty,” while Europe is described as “kicking the can down the road”.

After reading the CNBC piece, if you were to pick one answer as the one with the most dire potential consequences, which would it be?

A.  ‘Meaningful Probability’ of Hard Landing for China

B.  The US is a glass that is “half full and half empty”.

C.  Europe is “kicking the can down the road…” (so is the US)

However, a clearer picture appears after reading what “The DailyTicker” published June 13, 2011, at Yahoo.com, Roubini Says “Perfect Storm” May Clobber Global Economy.

Henry Blodget wrote, “Roubini’s perfect storm consists of four factors: The U.S.’s basket-case of an economy and budget deficit, a potential slowdown in China, European debt restructuring and stagnation in Japan.”

Roubini predicts there’s a one-in-three chance that these factors will clobber the global economy in 2013. One-in-three means there is a 33.3% chance this will happen and a 66.6% that it won’t.

As for “Kicking the can”, Blodget writes that Bloomberg quotes Roubini saying, “Everybody’s kicking the can down the road of too much public and private debt (except China). The can is becoming heavier and heavier, and bigger on debt, and all these problems may come to a head by 2013 at the latest.”

Does a “potential slowdown in China” mean the same as CNBC’s “Meaningful Probability of Hard Landing for China”?

Consider that in January 2011, the Economist’s View said, “China’s current-account surplus … is the largest in the world. … China’s external surplus stands at $316 billion, or 6.1% of annual GDP.”

Then Ethics Sage says, “On February 1, it was reported that China’s foreign currency reserves totaled $1.2 trillion. That’s about 8% of the US National Debt,” which is $14.3 trillion and growing.

Bloomberg paints a better picture for China of $2.85 trillion in currency holdings.

Who is going to land harder if Roubini’s “Perfect Storm” strikes?

A. China

B. Europe

C. the US

D. B and C

E. none of the above

Now that you have read more than what CNBC had to say, your answer to this question stands a better chance of being correct.

Isn’t it interesting how easy it is for a major element of the media (CNBC) to  be misleading?

Learn more from A Panel Discussion on China’s Economy

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Lloyd Lofthouse is the award-winning author of the concubine saga, My Splendid Concubine & Our Hart. When you love a Chinese woman, you marry her family and culture too.

To subscribe to “iLook China”, look for the “Subscribe” button at the top of the screen in the menu bar, click on it then follow directions.

2 Comments | America, China, economy, media | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Lloyd Lofthouse

Free to Lie – Part 3/3

July 14, 2011

I found it ironic that the truth about Social Security came from FDR’s grandson.

James Roosevelt Jr. says, “There is a saying that if you repeat something often enough it becomes the truth.”  Then later in the piece, he points out that “Social Security’s critics have been casting the same aspersions (an unfavorable or damaging remark; slander, which means a false and malicious statement) on the program for 75 years.” Source: Social Security’s Enduring Truths

I also learned that Social Security costs are funded out of its own dedicated revenue stream, which is paid by workers and employers.  It does not and cannot borrow money to finance its operations. There is no deficit financing in Social Security and by the end of 2010, the fund had a positive balance of $2.6 trillion and enough money to pay full benefits through the year 2036.


How the media lies to manipulate us – length about one hour

Compare that with the US National Debt, which carries a negative balance of more than $14 trillion while Social Security has no debt and carries a positive balance, yet, thanks to echoes in the media and on the Internet, many people believe that Social Security is almost broke and is a burden to the taxpayer.

There is a lesson to be learned here.

Next time you hear or read something about China from a US politician, a critic of China or from the Western Media, do not accept it as the absolute truth. Check the facts first—that is, if you can find them under all the lies.

After all, in the US where freedom of the press is protected, that means lies are also protected as long as they do not slander another individual.  Everything else is fair game for manufacturing the truth regardless of the facts.

Return to Free to Lie – Part 2 or start with Part 1

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Lloyd Lofthouse is the award-winning author of the concubine saga, My Splendid Concubine & Our Hart. When you love a Chinese woman, you marry her family and culture too.

To subscribe to “iLook China”, look for the “Subscribe” button at the top of the screen in the menu bar, click on it then follow directions.

6 Comments | America, China, economy, government, media, politics | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Lloyd Lofthouse

Free to Lie – Part 2/3

July 13, 2011

I learned that three presidents caused most of the National Debt we have today: Ronald Reagan, who increased the National Debt more than $300 billion in two years; George H. W. Bush, who added another $700 billion in two years, and the last Bush that increased the National Debt by more than $5 trillion in eight years.

This means that President Obama came into office with a National Debt that was more than 10 trillion and the annual interest payment on that debt was about $400 billion or $1.2 trillion since he’s been in office, and the GOP and the Tea Party make it sounds as if the National Debt is his fault.

How many people in the US think of Social Security as a burden on the taxpayer? I admit, until I read a piece from the AARP Bulletin’s Social Security’s Enduring Truths by James Roosevelt Jr., the grandson of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who gave us Social Security, I thought the taxpayer was responsible to pay for Social Security of the program went broke.

However, I learned that was not the fact, which I will explain in Free to Lie – Part 3.

Meanwhile, did you know that China has a Social Security system?

In fact, China’s social security system is broken down into five distinct categories, which are:

1. Pension
2. Medical insurance
3. Unemployment insurance
4. Maternity insurance
5. Occupational injury insurance

To learn more, visit “China Briefing” and read Adam Livermore’s “Understanding China’s Social Security System”.

Continued on July 14, 2011 in Free to Lie – Part 3 or return to Part 1

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Lloyd Lofthouse is the award-winning author of the concubine saga, My Splendid Concubine & Our Hart. When you love a Chinese woman, you marry her family and culture too.

To subscribe to “iLook China”, look for the “Subscribe” button at the top of the screen in the menu bar, click on it then follow directions.

4 Comments | America, China, economy, government, media, politics | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Lloyd Lofthouse

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