U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm claimed Friday that Americans can “learn from what China is doing” in combating climate change.
During an interview at the annual SXSW conference in Austin, Texas, Granholm sang the praises of China for its efforts to reduce climate change, claiming the country is actually “very sensitive” about the issue, more so than the United States.
Granholm made these claims despite the fact that China recently hit its coal-production record last year. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, “55% of China’s energy” now comes from fossil fuel “compared to 11% in the U.S.”
SXSW Studio host Wajahat Ali conducted the interview with Granholm and mentioned China’s negligence on climate during their discussion.
He prompted Granholm, saying that China and the U.S. are doing “so much damage to the world” by neglecting the climate.
Ali said, “I want to talk about accountability. We don’t know what’s going to happen, but — with China specifically, right? When we’re talking about, if it’s Wuhan, or if it’s not, but accountability when it comes to those countries that are doing so much damage to the world, when it comes to climate change. I hate to say it’s China and it’s also the United States of America.”
He asked, “How do we hold China and ourselves accountable for what we are doing around the world?”
She then praised China’s climate change efforts, saying, “But, I think China has done — has been very sensitive, and has actually invested a lot in their solutions, to achieve their goals.”
Granholm added, “So we’re — we’re hopeful that, you know, we can all learn from what China is doing.”
Read the full story here.
Scroll down to leave a comment and share your thoughts.
