Global Warming or Climate Change?

China will be the world's largest consumer of energy by 2010, and is already the world's largest polluter, pulling ahead of the United States just this year. Scientists have detected pollution on top of Mt. Hood (one of the cleanest places in the US) that traveled across the Pacific Ocean from China.

This might help explain President Bush's newfound concern for global warming. The Kyoto Protocol was a good idea but it would have been disastrous for the United States to sign it without the participation of China. Why should we massively restructure our economy at a huge expense to save an environment that China will just trash and destroy?

If we can get China to sign an agreement that caps emissions, their unbelievable economic growth would come to a screeching halt. Maybe this is why the Europeans have always wanted such a thing. China does not have the technological or research capacity to adapt in the same way Europe and the United States do. There is a lot of money to be made on all this climate change hype, and a lot to be lost.

I would love to join every environmentalist in berating and chastising China for their total disregard for the environment. I'm from Montana; I love the environment.