China axes 15 coal plants abroad after Xi pledge, but loopholes remain: study

Yahoo – AFP, April 22, 2022 

China has vowed to become carbon-neutral by 2060, but its emissions pledges do not
cover fossil-fuel investments abroad (AFP/JOHANNES EISELE) (JOHANNES EISELE) 

More than a dozen Chinese coal power projects overseas were cancelled after a ban last year on funding such plants, but loopholes could allow 18 others to still go ahead, according to a study published Friday. 

China is the world's biggest emitter of the greenhouse gases driving global warming. It has vowed to peak carbon emissions by 2030 and become carbon-neutral by 2060, but these do not include its fossil-fuel investments abroad. 

It is also the largest public funder of overseas coal plants, and was planning to build 67 in more than a dozen countries when President Xi Jinping announced a ban on financing "new projects" in September. 

Since then, Chinese developers have cancelled 15 overseas coal projects as funding dried up and host countries demanded greener alternatives, a study by the Helsinki-based Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) said. 

The cancelled projects would have generated 12.8 gigawatts of electricity -- or the total power generation capacity in Singapore, the think tank added. 

But a lack of clear rules has allowed Chinese developers to continue to build new coal power projects, it warned. 

"The key concern is that China will continue to fund or build new coal projects to power industrial parks under the Belt and Road Initiative," said Isabella Suarez, a researcher at CREA, referring to Xi's $1 trillion global infrastructure push. 

"The loophole is that because the industrial parks have been years in the making, additional coal on these projects would not be considered new, even if... tenders are happening after the pledge to ban coal funding." 

Deadly impact 

China's top economic planner issued vague guidelines in March, telling developers to "proceed cautiously" on coal plants that were in the final stages of planning. 

These could potentially stop Chinese funding for 32 planned coal plants and prompt the "reexamination" of 36 others that are under way, according to the CREA report. 

However, "about 18 coal projects (in the pipeline) that can generate 19.2 Gigawatts of power have already secured financing and permits... and could still go ahead," Suarez said. 

AFP has sought comment on the report from the National Development and Reform Commission, China's economic planner. 

Most of these projects are in Indonesia, where China is investing billions to mine nickel and other minerals needed to build electric vehicles, according to data from the Global Energy Monitor. 

Vietnam and Bangladesh have in recent months requested China to build gas projects instead of the agreed coal projects, according to government notices. 

The deadly impact of climate change -- from extreme heatwaves to more intense superstorms -- is already being felt across the world. 

Experts say emissions must be halved within a decade to limit global warming to well below 2 degrees Celsius (36 degrees Fahrenheit) or ideally to 1.5C as stated in the Paris climate accord. 

Bridge collapses in Pittsburgh just before Biden speech

Yahoo – AFP, Sebastian Smith, Fri, January 28, 2022

A Pittsburgh bridge collapsed hours before the arrival of US President
Joe Biden to discuss infrastructure (AFP}

A bridge collapse Friday in Pittsburgh provided a symbolic backdrop for President Joe Biden's trip to the city to tout his $1 trillion infrastructure plan -- and try rebuilding his own crumbling approval ratings. 

Pittsburgh's public safety authorities tweeted that three people were hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries after the road bridge buckled into a snowy ravine. 

The otherwise minor accident immediately caught national attention because Biden was set to touch down in the industrial city shortly for a speech promoting his efforts to reset the post-pandemic US economy, including through the historic infrastructure spending splurge. 

Biden "has been told of the bridge collapse in Pittsburgh," Press Secretary Jen Psaki tweeted, and will "proceed with (the) trip planned for today and will stay in touch with officials on the ground about additional assistance we can provide." 

While in Pittsburgh, located in the political battleground state of Pennsylvania, Biden was to tour Mill 19. The former mill dates back to 1943 and once churned out more than a million tons of metal a year. 

Today, the site is being held up as a symbol of what the White House calls Biden's "vision to rebuild America's economy for the 21st century." Home to Carnegie Mellon University's Manufacturing Futures Institute (MFI), Mill 19 focuses on high-tech research and development. 

"The president will talk about how his bipartisan infrastructure law is already strengthening in our supply chains and critical infrastructure -- our roads, bridges, ports, airports and more -- giving us an edge in producing more in America and exporting it to the world," a White House official said. 

Biden's political woes 

For Pittsburgh's mayor, Ed Gainey, the Biden visit was welcome -- a chance to home in on the kinds of problems plaguing post-industrial cities across the country, where bridges, highways, water pipes and other basic infrastructure typically dates back multiple decades. 

"This is critical that we get this funding and we're glad to have the president coming today," he told CNN.

 

In a tough first year in office, the infrastructure bill, passed with rare cross-party Republican support, was one of Biden's biggest successes. For years, presidents had failed to get Congress to revamp the sector, with Donald Trump's repeated promises of "infrastructure week" turning into a running Washington joke. 

But Biden has faced heavy setbacks on other priorities, most recently his attempt to get new voting rights guarantees through Congress. He is also embroiled in the standoff with Russia over Ukraine. 

Despite signs of a roaring economic comeback from the Covid-19 shutdown, the recovery is proving uneven and inflation is eating into wage increases. 

As he kicks off his second year, Biden's approval ratings have slipped to around 40 percent, making him as unpopular as Trump. And things risk getting worse, with Republicans potentially poised to take over Congress in the November midterms. 

Reflecting Biden's currently dim political star power, two important Democrats from Pennsylvania -- Lieutenant Governor John Fetterman and Attorney General Josh Shapiro -- were pointedly keeping away from the presidential visit, citing scheduling conflicts. 

However, Biden has said he hopes trips like this will help relaunch his momentum, heading into the midterms. 

"I'm going to get out of this place more often," he said during a press conference last week at the White House. "I'm going to go out and talk to the public."