China’s Coal Power Boom Beijing is building more coal-fired capacity than the rest of the world combined, U.S. climate lectures notwithstanding. By The Editorial Board (WSJ) Imported coal is seen lifted by cranes from a coal cargo ship at a port in Lianyungang, Jiangsu province, China July 26, 2018.PHOTO: CHINA STRINGER NETWORK/REUTERS An unspoken truth of the climate-change crusade is this: Anything the U.S. does to reduce emissions won’t matter much to global temperatures. U.S. cuts will be swamped by the increases in India, Africa and especially China. Look no further than China’s boom in new coal-fired electricity. Under the nonbinding 2015 Paris climate agreement, China can increase its emissions until 2030. And is it ever. Between 2015 and 2021 China’s emissions increased by some 11%, according to the Climate Action Tracker, which evaluates nationally determined contributions under the Paris agreement. The U.S. has reduced its emissions by some 6% between 2015 and 2021. Beijing made minimal new commitments at last year’s Glasgow confab on climate, despite world pressure. S&P Global Commodity Insights recently estimated that China is planning or building coal-fired power plants with a total capacity of at least 100 gigawatts. Those are merely the projects whose development status is confirmed, so the real number is almost certainly higher. Total U.S. power capacity is some 1,147 gigawatts. One gigawatt is enough energy to power as many as 770,000 homes. The nonprofit Global Energy Monitor tracks coal-fired power projects world-wide of 30 megawatts or more, including those planned for the long-term. It estimates that, as of July 2022, China had some 258 coal-fired power stations—or some 515 individual units—proposed, permitted or under construction. If completed they would generate some 290 gigawatts, more than 60% of the world's total coal capacity under development. Global Energy Monitor also reports that as of July China had 174 new coal mines or coal-mine expansions proposed, permitted or under construction that when complete would produce 596 million metric tonnes per year. China has also invested in hydro, wind and solar energy, which account for a growing share of its power generation. But energy demand continues to grow, and coal accounted for nearly 64% of China’s power generation in 2021, according to the energy think tank Ember. Since China signed the Paris pact, its coal-fired power capacity has increased by some 185 gigawatts, S&P Global Commodity Insights estimated earlier this summer. The U.S. has decreased its coal capacity by about 80 gigawatts since late 2015. The U.S. Energy Information Administration reported in January that U.S. operational coal capacity was 209.6 gigawatts. Natural gas plants that emit less CO2 are replacing coal power in the U.S., which accounts for most of the decline in U.S. greenhouse-gas emissions. Yet the climate lobby and Biden Administration want to cut off financing for natural-gas production and make drilling and transport more difficult and expensive. The reason for China’s coal boom is obvious: The Communist Party’s priority is economic growth, higher living standards, and becoming the world’s leading power. Carbon emissions are an afterthought, and promises of future reductions are the compliment Chinese vice pays to Western virtue signalers. President Xi Jinping addressed carbon-neutrality goals in March, saying “we can’t be detached from reality. . . . We can’t toss away what’s feeding us now while what will feed us next is still not in our pocket,” according to a South China Morning Post report that cited the state-run People’s Daily. But Biden officials don’t want to believe what they hear. U.S. climate envoy John Kerry spent much of 2021 trying to convince leaders in Beijing to reduce emissions, but they won’t even slow down their construction of new coal plants. Chinese officials have also made clear that any concessions on climate will require U.S. concessions on Chinese priorities such as Taiwan, trade policy and human rights. After House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s recent visit to Taiwan, China’s Foreign Ministry suspended cooperation with the U.S. on climate change, among other issues. Foreign Minister Wang Yi told Mr. Kerry last September that “China-U.S. cooperation on climate change cannot be divorced from the overall situation of China-U.S. relations.” While the Biden Administration does all it can to restrict U.S. fossil fuels, no matter the economic harm, Beijing is charging ahead with coal imports, coal mining and coal power to become the world’s leading economy. They must marvel at their good fortune in having rivals who are so self-destructive.

-- Joe Danely