China - Comparing Environmental Policies in 16 Countries - page 267

mostly from the Middle East. The PRC is lining up new supplies from
Russia, Kazakhstan, and Sudan.
The government has been building modern, long-distance express-
ways only since 1989. At that time, there were only 147 kilometers in the
entire country. As of 2010, there were 74,000 kilometers. Obviously, these
highways encourage automobiles and trucks, which increase pollution.
Moreover, the expressways dump the traffic onto city streets that are
already congested. Virtually, every city has bumper-to-bumper traffic
crawling along at every hour of the day.
The Ministry of Railways runs a rail system totaling 86,000 kilometers.
It operates 36,000 trains a day. This is the major means of intercity trans-
portation, and helps the environment by avoiding highway travel. In 2007
the government began high-speed rail operations. These sleek trains of
eight cars run at 200 kilometers an hour on existing lines. Potentially they
will go 350 kilometers an hour on special lines. The government claims
credit for this rail initiative as a means of reducing global warming. An
even more innovative technology is the Maglev train from downtown
Shanghai to the airport. The trains travel 30 kilometers in 7 minutes, with
a top speed of 430 kilometers an hour. The cars are suspended without
wheels by magnetism.
Global Warming: In 2005 China surpassed the United States to become
the world's largest emitter of greenhouse gases, but details are elusive
because China has kept its statistics secret since 2002. Under the Kyoto
Protocol, it has no obligation to limit its emissions because it is considered
an underdeveloped country, therefore exempted. China got this privileged
status for the first time at the 1988 World Conference on the Changing
Atmosphere in Toronto that set forth the initial ideas about how to control
global warming, then had it reinforced in the Rio Earth Summit in 1992
when it was not listed as an industrial country subject to control, and had it
confirmed at Kyoto in 1997. In addition to China, more than 130 developing
countries are exempt. Moreover, they are supposedly entitled to financial
aid to help them reduce their emissions, another concept first proposed at
Toronto, and confirmed at Kyoto. In contrast to China, they emit far lower
amounts of greenhouse gases. Their combined total is only about 23% of
the world total, less than either China or the United States.
In preparation for the Earth Summit in Rio, China sought a leadership
role among the underdeveloped countries. At a meeting of Third World
environmental ministers that it hosted in Beijing, it promoted a unified
stance. The ministers called for international cooperation but insisted on