India decries global warming push as 'carbon imperialism' from Western nations

Sunday, December 13, 2015 by: J. D. Heyes
Tags: CO2 emissions, India, climate change

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(NaturalNews) Many nations formerly of the under-developed Global South, are not about to be bullied by rich Global North countries that have long since existed on the cutting edge of industry and technology – and you can count India as one of the largest.

In recent days, world leaders and concerned interests gathered in Paris to discuss so-called "global warming" issues in the latest push to adopt enforceable limits on carbon emissions that are generated primarily through the burning of fossil fuels. India – like China, Indonesia, Malaysia and other countries – is currently in the midst of economic expansions much like the United States and Europe experienced a hundred years ago – using much of the same affordable carbon-producing technology that these emerging economies are now relying on.

And while the U.S. and Europe have adopted unreasonable and expensive carbon reduction standards – which have been based primarily on phony science and manipulated climate data – countries like India are not about to surrender their economies just when they are beginning to explode, despite very real health concerns caused by heavy industrialization.

'Carbon imperialism'

During the Paris confab, Secretary of State John Kerry even went so far as to single out India as a "challenge" – meaning it would be difficult, at best, to get New Delhi to agree to restrictive new carbon emissions reductions and, from the sound of it, he's right.

As the UK Telegraph reported, India indeed has a problem with smog, especially in its large cities, but the country's people and leadership appear to have accepted it as part of the price of modernity and economic growth:

It's rush hour in the world's most polluted city, and just visible through the dense blanket of smog is an electronic billboard informing motorists that the air quality has dropped from "very poor" to "severe".

If this were Beijing an emergency would be declared, with schools closed for the day and production at factories halted. But here in Delhi, judging by faces barely visible behind anti-pollution masks, nobody seems to have noticed. ...

Faced with a rapidly growing population, a buoyant but fragile economy blighted by constant power shortages and millions still living in abject poverty, India argues that it cannot simply decide between renewable and non-renewable power - it needs both.

When Kerry singled out India as a "challenge," his insult was met with an appropriate mix of anger, frustration and incredulity.

"Kerry's comment is unwarranted and unfair. The attitude of some of the developed countries is the challenge for the Paris conclusion," said Prakash Javadekar, India's environment minister, The Telegraph reported. He added that his country is "not in the habit of taking any pressure from anybody."

"This smacks of a 'carbon imperialism'," Arvind Subramanian, the Indian government's chief economic advisor, also noted. "And such imperialism on the part of advanced nations could spell disaster for India and other developing countries."

We aren't so good at clean energy policy, either

They and others contend that India still burns less coal than the U.S. – the world's No. 1 user – and China, a rising second – and that both have profited from burning carbon-producing fuels for decades (the U.S. for more than a century-and-a-half).

But that doesn't mean India is wedded to coal. In fact, as The Telegraph reports further:

India has announced efforts to boost renewables too. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch a "solar alliance" of 122 solar-rich countries at Paris, seeking to attract $100bn per year global investment in the technology. He has also spoken of the need for new, cleaner methods of coal generation.

As for the U.S., our political leadership continually shoots our industries in the foot, even when it comes to so-called "clean" energy technology. In the 1990s, President Bill Clinton designed a huge area in Utah as a federal monument – a land mass that just happened to contain a trillion dollars' worth of rare, "clean" coal. As for the one source of energy that produces a lot of electric power with no emissions – nuclear power – it is nearly impossible to get a new plant approved, and the regulatory process makes them cost-prohibitive to build.

In the meantime, nations like India aren't into the cult of "global warming," and are not about to be cowed into giving up the one cheap resource they need to feed and power a nation of 1 billion plus.

Sources:

Telegraph.co.uk

NaturalNews.com

Freedom.news