Environmental advocates called for “building an ecological civilization,” in which nature and humankind would find a harmonious balance. And when President Xi Jinping assumed power in 2012, he immediately took up the cause. Finally, it is probably not a coincidence that China’s coal relapse came at a time when the U.S. was absent from the international climate scene. The United Nations climate talks in Glasgow, Scotland, this November are fast approaching. Daniel K. Gardner, co-organizer of the China Environmental Group at Princeton University’s High Meadows Environmental Institute, is professor emeritus of Chinese history and environment at Smith College and the author of numerous books on China, including “Environmental Pollution in China: What Everyone Needs to Know.”

Source: Los Angeles Times August 01, 2021 09:56 UTC