“ 'There is really no debate about climate change in China,' said Peggy Liu, chairwoman of the Joint U.S.-China Collaboration on Clean Energy, a nonprofit group working to accelerate the greening of China. 'China’s leaders are mostly engineers and scientists, so they don’t waste time questioning scientific data.' The push for green in China, she added, 'is a practical discussion on health and wealth. There is no need to emphasize future consequences when people already see, eat and breathe pollution every day.'

And because runaway pollution in China means wasted lives, air, water, ecosystems and money — and wasted money means fewer jobs and more political instability — China’s leaders would never go a year (like we will) without energy legislation mandating new ways to do more with less. It’s a three-for-one shot for them. By becoming more energy efficient per unit of G.D.P., China saves money, takes the lead in the next great global industry and earns credit with the world for mitigating climate change.

'China is changing from the factory of the world to the clean-tech laboratory of the world,' said Liu. 'It has the unique ability to pit low-cost capital with large-scale experiments to find models that work.' China has designated and invested in pilot cities for electric vehicles, smart grids, LED lighting, rural biomass and low-carbon communities. 'They’re able to quickly throw spaghetti on the wall to see what clean-tech models stick, and then have the political will to scale them quickly across the country,' Liu added. 'This allows China to create jobs and learn quickly.' ” -- NYTimes, 9/18/2010