@70sBachchan's Threads
China doubling down on Coal is as much about military strategy —their “Malacca Dilemma”— as it is about cheap industrialization & electricity.
"Energy insecurity" is a euphemism for China's fears: 1) US Navy could blockade Oil & Gas tankers in straits of Malacca 2) US $ sanctions could choke ability to pay for Oil & Gas. Its "Look West" coal boom (ie hedging) is our era's MAD. #GeopoliticsOfGHGs
Asian Coal Question hangs as centrally around the 21stC as the 'German Question' did in the 20thC. Can live with a China that is authoritarian & powerful but not one that burns coal. Current strategy of containment, pushes China towards coal-powered autarchy. #GeopoliticsofGHGs 
GDP boils down to 3 things: # of working people × the amount of stuff they produce with capital-inputs per hour × # of hours they work. India stuck in "jobless growth" trap that prioritizes capital & FIRE sectors but low labour participation & low skills orfonline.org/expert-speak/c…
In 2007, the Chinese premier Wen Jiabao, declared that the country's economic growth trajectory was “unstable, unbalanced, uncoordinated and unsustainable”. A judgement that applies better to India's economy.
Lopsided finance & real estate along with severe human capital blockages made India's growth highly unequal & self-limiting since 80s. But in the short term, as Mody points to, its shadow banking crisis in infra lending thats the tail wagging the dog.
1 in 3 cars sold in US is a SUV. Cheap gas & hi profit margins trumps all arguments as clever auto engineers are told to focus on oomph (hp) instead of fuel efficiency or lighter cars. "Stop Buying Trucks" h/t @myrrlyn docs.google.com/document/d/1-K… carboncounter.com
There are now over 200 million SUVs around the world, up from about 35 million in 2010. 1 in 3 cars sold in both the world's largest car markets - US & China - is a SUV. Auto profits trump #ClimateEmergency.
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Dismantling Big Auto is as big a #climate challenge as dethroning King Coal.
#Amazon & #Indonesia deforestation driven by demand for Soy (feeding pigs), Cattle (beef) & Palm Oil #BeforeTheFlood cfr.org/interactives/a…
California can use its $ & political solidarity to protect Brazil's forests."Cash crops pay more than trees.The CA Tropical Forest Standard would tip the economic scales in favor of keeping more land as forest & growing more crops elsewhere" ht @jonahbusch calmatters.org/commentary/cli…
Dutch govt supports its firms 'sustainable' invstmt in Brazil's Northern Corridor while its own internal studies show that it will worsen Amazon deforestation & conflict.
