From the Paris Climate Negotiations
By now everyone who follows environmental news or looks at the front page of major newspapers knows that in the last two weeks Beijing has suffered through not one but two of these major multi-day air pollution events that have come to be known as air-pocalypses. Having such a spate of bad air in its capital city just as China was advocating for its green agenda in Paris was undoubtedly somewhat embarrassing to Chinese negotiators, but what does it mean beyond that? We’ve seen commentary suggesting everything from “how can we believe Chinese commitments,” to “this will increase Chinese efforts and make the issue more visible to Chinese.” But what really do conventional air pollution and greenhouse gave emissions have to do with one another? Let’s dig in a bit.