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On Monday, Beijing announced that it will unveil a plan to develop new energy sources, including wind, solar, nuclear, and “clean coal” by the end of the year. The announcement came just as the UN Secretary General warned of a dire future for the world unless it moves quickly to deal with climate change.
Meanwhile, China, which has surpassed the US as the largest producer of household garbage and is running out of landfill space, has embarked on a “vast program” to build incinerators. With minimal attention to the pollution they will create, these incinerators likely will offset any progress the Chinese will make in switching to renewables for the foreseeable future.