China is also building hundreds of more coal plants in other countries and have plans to build more in their country.
I find it deeply ironic how everybody talks about what the US has to do to stop climate change; while China just goes about its business making the situation exponentially worse without anybody really caring.
Can't speak for "everyone" but here's my 2 cents on what you're describing.
As an American, my first thought it when it comes to most issues tends to be "what can we, America, do to make things better." This leads me to vote a certain way, consume a certain way, and live a certain way. I understand that out countries are doing their own things and having their own problems, but there's fewer mechanisms in place for the average person outside that nation to affect change (and depending on the structure of the government, there might not even be that much for people IN the nation to do).
I care that China has bad aspects of how their government works. But the low hanging fruit for me is to try and pressure the people in my neighborhood (either literally or metaphorically) towards better decisions. "Change start at home" and all that.
>But the low hanging fruit for me is to try and pressure the people in my neighborhood (either literally or metaphorically) towards better decisions.
The problem is that the low hanging fruit in America has been picked 30+ years ago. The things Americans can do to meaningfully impact climate change involve deep systemic changes - eating less meat, use of plastics, use of cars, general consumerism, etc. The impact of changing those would be big, but so is the level of effort involved.
I think you're misunderstanding what I meant by "low hanging fruit".
It's easier for me to affect my Town, State, and US political action than it is to influence Chinese policy. I can vote for green policy candidates who can institute actual change in the US. I have no ability to do that in the US.
I find it deeply ironic how everybody talks about what the US has to do to stop climate change; while China just goes about its business making the situation exponentially worse without anybody really caring.