The Chinese Communist Party has announced that it will begin increasing domestic coal production while reducing reliance on foreign suppliers. The news comes despite President Joe Biden’s climate czar, John Kerry, repeatedly begging China for the past year to join their comrades in the U.S. government in the fight against climate change and for the green energy revolution.
On Monday, Bloomberg News reported that China is looking to add to its record-setting year in 2021 in terms of coal production, by increasing production capacity by hundreds of millions of tons:
The National Development and Reform Commission, the nation’s top economic planner, told officials from major mining regions at a meeting late last week that it wants to boost domestic production capacity by about 300 million tons, according to people familiar with the matter. It also plans to build a 620 million-ton stockpile of the fuel split between government, miners and users.
The business media outlet also added that “daily output should average 12.6 million tons, according to the NDRC, which is even higher than the record-breaking levels reached in the fall after shortages caused widespread industrial brownouts.”
As Bloomberg pointed out, the move is not a good sign for Americans hoping that the CCP would slow down their effort for energy independence in the name of green energy:
It’s hard to overstate the importance to China of coal, the most-polluting fossil fuel. The nation produces and consumes more than half of global supply, and it’s the biggest contributor to its world-leading greenhouse gas emissions. China has said that coal consumption should begin to fall off in the second half of this decade as it strives to peak emissions across the economy by 2030.
One of those Americans is the former Secretary of State Kerry.
The husband of the heiress to the Heinz Ketchup fortune is paid a non-public, taxpayer-funded salary — as U.S. Special Presidential Envoy on Climate — to fly around the world in a gas-guzzling jet to sit down with world leaders and convince them of impending doom from climate change and the urgent need to take action.
In September 2021, Kerry flew to China to discuss potential deals regarding the climate. The meetings reportedly did not go so well.
Voice of America reported that Anders Corr, a longtime China observer and publisher of the Journal of Political Risk, stated that “the Taliban got a better reception” from the CCP, in reference to a delegation from the Islamic extremist group that met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Beijing last summer.
Likewise, the CCP refused to even meet with Kerry in person and sent a low-level staffer to conduct the talks, something that Corr noted was not a sign the Chinese were taking Kerry seriously:
Senior officials, including Wang, Vice Premier Han Zheng and Yang Jiechi, the state councilor in charge of foreign affairs, met with Kerry only by video conference while a relatively junior climate negotiator was dispatched to Tianjin for face-to-face talks.
The treatment amounted to “a diplomatic snub,” Corr said, comparing it to widely circulated photographs of Taliban political commission leader Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar meeting in person with Wang just weeks before. “Not to mention the drab photo backdrop, video calls from principals, and public lecturing [by the Chinese side].”
The whole affair is a “joke” at the U.S.’ expense, Corr said, adding the Chinese Communist Party “is laughing its [expletive] off. You can quote me on that.”
At the time, Kerry was even willing to ignore China’s egregious human rights abuses against the Uyghur people and other members of their country. Kerry downplayed those issues, saying the two countries had to work together for the sake of the world.
“Yes we have issues, a number of different issues, but first and foremost, this planet must be protected,” Kerry said after being asked about the problem.
Yet with China’s increased coal production would say that — for the CCP — first and foremost, their energy independence must be protected.
That is very different from the message coming out of Kerry’s mouth and his pals in the White House.
As The Daily Wire noted last week, the Democrats in charge are seeking a green energy utopia that will never come while hurting the American worker, family, and motorist with high energy prices for the foreseeable future. At the same time, they are reportedly calling foreign leaders for more oil.
As if that weren’t pathetic enough, China’s increased coal production is only the latest sign is that the Democrats are pushing a pipe dream onto the American people and hurting our world-standing in the process.
The views expressed in this piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.