But that whole business of singling out India and China is BS. If China was split up into 10 smaller countries that together emitted the same amount in aggregate, those 10 smaller countries would fly under the radar. It's only because China happens to be a single country that people point the finger. Per-capita emissions is the thing to be focusing on.
People are only using the metrics that make them/their country look best. The USA is topping the chart in cumulative GHG emissions, which is objectively the cause of climate change (carbon stays in the atmosphere).
It’s valid to focus on China, because China is where lobbying efforts are best spent. A single huge government making a small change will “do” more than a small government making a small change.
India's greenhouse gas emissions are 50% of those of the US. Per capita they are at 12% of the US.
BTW, per capita is the correct comparison because the atmosphere does not care about arbitrary boundaries. To illustrate imaging a world with just 2 countries, one emitting X per year and one emitting 2X per year. The population of first county is P and the population of the second country is 2P. In this example we'll assume little trade between the two countries.
That world needs to get down to a total of 2X per year. If we do thing per country that means each country gets to emit X per year. So the first country is fine where they are and the second country needs to cut emissions in half.
To the people of the first country they just continue their normal lifestyle, which generates X/P emissions per capita. The second country has to go from X/P per capita to 1/2 X/P. They will need to make big changes that will likely greatly reduce their standard of living.
But then separatist parties, upset with such a big blow to the standard of living, come to power in the second country, and it splits into 9 separate countries, each with population 2P/9.
In this new 10 country world, each country's share of the global 2X emission budget is 2/10 X. To meet this the first country has to cut per capita emissions to 20% of what they were before, requiring drastic changes in their economy and lifestyles.
The 9 new countries on the other hand only have to each cut per capita emissions to 90% of what they were before. Their standards of living don't have to change much.
...and now there are strong incentives in the first country to split!
This only ends when you reach a configuration where every country has the same per capita allowance.
Trade complicates it, because now emissions in one country might be going toward doing things for the other country and so should be counted toward the other country's emission budget. That can be dealt with by something like a cap and trade system so countries can trade some of their emissions budget to cover emissions done for them in other countries.
Unfortunately most pro-nuclear talk I see is in form of excuse 'my way or highway'. Like the one you did. As bonus you are trying to shift focus to other actors (which true, are also relevant but still...)
Agreed. China and India put out significantly more and dirtier pollution than the US and nuclear is the only realistic pathway forward for base emissions-free power.
Furthermore, this was the right decision. You can't just have the executive branch make up law. If Congress wants this, they can pass a law. That's how the US works.
and putting more pressure on countries like China and India