{"componentChunkName":"component---src-templates-post-query-tsx","path":"/blog-post/op-ed-in-indian-express-can-india-be-far-behind/","result":{"pageContext":{"post":{"slug":"/blog-post/op-ed-in-indian-express-can-india-be-far-behind/","title":"Op-Ed in Indian Express: Can India be far behind?","date":"Nov 19, 2014","timeToRead":3,"description":"","body":"function _extends() { _extends = Object.assign || function (target) { for (var i = 1; i < arguments.length; i++) { var source = arguments[i]; for (var key in source) { if (Object.prototype.hasOwnProperty.call(source, key)) { target[key] = source[key]; } } } return target; }; return _extends.apply(this, arguments); }\n\nfunction _objectWithoutProperties(source, excluded) { if (source == null) return {}; var target = _objectWithoutPropertiesLoose(source, excluded); var key, i; if (Object.getOwnPropertySymbols) { var sourceSymbolKeys = Object.getOwnPropertySymbols(source); for (i = 0; i < sourceSymbolKeys.length; i++) { key = sourceSymbolKeys[i]; if (excluded.indexOf(key) >= 0) continue; if (!Object.prototype.propertyIsEnumerable.call(source, key)) continue; target[key] = source[key]; } } return target; }\n\nfunction _objectWithoutPropertiesLoose(source, excluded) { if (source == null) return {}; var target = {}; var sourceKeys = Object.keys(source); var key, i; for (i = 0; i < sourceKeys.length; i++) { key = sourceKeys[i]; if (excluded.indexOf(key) >= 0) continue; target[key] = source[key]; } return target; }\n\n/* @jsxRuntime classic */\n\n/* @jsx mdx */\nvar _frontmatter = {\n  \"title\": \"Op-Ed in Indian Express: Can India be far behind?\",\n  \"date\": \"2014-11-19\",\n  \"template\": \"post\",\n  \"slug\": \"op-ed-in-indian-express-can-india-be-far-behind\",\n  \"postedLink\": \"https://riceinstitute.org/blog/op-ed-in-indian-express-can-india-be-far-behind/\",\n  \"old-tags\": [\"coal\", \"india\", \"pollution\"],\n  \"description\": \"\",\n  \"tags\": \"Blog Post\",\n  \"banner\": \"\"\n};\nvar layoutProps = {\n  _frontmatter: _frontmatter\n};\nvar MDXLayout = \"wrapper\";\nreturn function MDXContent(_ref) {\n  var components = _ref.components,\n      props = _objectWithoutProperties(_ref, [\"components\"]);\n\n  return mdx(MDXLayout, _extends({}, layoutProps, props, {\n    components: components,\n    mdxType: \"MDXLayout\"\n  }), mdx(\"h2\", null, mdx(\"a\", {\n    parentName: \"h2\",\n    \"href\": \"http://riceinstitute.org/wordpress/2014/11/19/op-ed-in-indian-express-can-india-be-far-behind/\",\n    \"target\": \"_blank\",\n    \"rel\": \"noopener noreferrer\"\n  }, \"Op-ed in Indian Express: Can India be far behind?\")), mdx(\"p\", null, mdx(\"em\", {\n    parentName: \"p\"\n  }, \"Written by\\xA0\", mdx(\"a\", {\n    parentName: \"em\",\n    \"href\": \"http://riceinstitute.org/wordpress/author/dean-spears/\",\n    \"title\": \"Posts by Dean Spears\",\n    \"target\": \"_blank\",\n    \"rel\": \"noopener noreferrer\"\n  }, \"Dean Spears\"), \"\\xA0on November 19th, 2014\")), mdx(\"p\", null, \"My op-ed on emissions and coal in India was published\\xA0\", mdx(\"a\", {\n    parentName: \"p\",\n    \"href\": \"http://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/can-india-be-far-behind/\",\n    \"target\": \"_blank\",\n    \"rel\": \"noopener noreferrer\"\n  }, \"today in the Indian express\"), \".\\xA0 I\\u2019ll post it below, but first this haunting photograph that accompanied\\xA0\", mdx(\"a\", {\n    parentName: \"p\",\n    \"href\": \"http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/18/world/coal-rush-in-india-could-tip-balance-on-climate-change.html\",\n    \"target\": \"_blank\",\n    \"rel\": \"noopener noreferrer\"\n  }, \"Gardiner Harris\\u2019 article yesterday in the NYT on coal\"), \"\\xA0in Jharkhand and its implications or India and climate change \\u2014 read it first!\"), mdx(\"p\", null, \"My article:\"), mdx(\"p\", null, mdx(\"strong\", {\n    parentName: \"p\"\n  }, \"Can India be far behind?\")), mdx(\"p\", null, \"This week, China announced a historic goal: its carbon emissions will peak around 2030, and subsequently decline. This announcement is widely regarded as a landmark moment in humanity\\u2019s efforts to avert catastrophic climate change.\\xA0 Scientific evidence leaves no room to doubt that the well-being of all nations will soon depend critically on the emissions that we are all pumping into the air today.\"), mdx(\"p\", null, \"For now, the worst offenders are the richer countries of North America and Europe. But, the large developing economies are catching up fast. \\xA0Only China and the U.S. exceed India in annual carbon dioxide emissions; Europe does too, if it is counted as a country.\"), mdx(\"p\", null, \"Yet, annual emissions are now declining in the U.S. and Europe, as well as in Canada, Australia, and South Africa. India\\u2019s rate of increasing emissions is greater than the combined rate of increase for the total of both Russia and all of Africa.\\xA0 China\\u2019s announcement leaves India as the largest remaining carbon polluter without either declining emissions or a target set for declining emission levels.\\xA0 Even if China\\u2019s commitment is a weak one \\u2013 or would be met automatically under business as usual \\u2013 it remains politically significant that a commitment was made.\"), mdx(\"p\", null, \"So, an important question is whether India will be willing to match what China has done.\\xA0\\xA0 Can India join the ranks of the leading economies by committing to a timeline for reversing emissions?\"), mdx(\"p\", null, \"Some readers may be surprised that I am writing about climate policy in India, having been born in the United States. Indeed, carbon emissions per person are well over 10 times in the U.S. what they are in India.\\xA0 I would have very little to say in approval of the so-called \\u201Cefforts\\u201D of the U.S. to reduce the chances of climate disaster.\"), mdx(\"p\", null, \"But, every country must do its part, because climate change threatens us all. If an irresponsible, distracted driver is about to run you over as you walk across the street, you will die if you stand still, explaining calmly that the driver is at fault.\\xA0 What matters most is to step out of the way of disaster.\\xA0 You can sort out who to blame after you have done all you can to survive.\"), mdx(\"p\", null, \"The threat to people in India from climate change is far more urgent than that of an out of control car. Analysis of infant mortality in India shows that on the hottest days, more children die.\\xA0 Climate change can only be expected to increase these threats.\"), mdx(\"p\", null, \"Some of the worse case scenarios would be almost immeasurably bad. Economist\\xA0\", mdx(\"a\", {\n    parentName: \"p\",\n    \"href\": \"http://dash.harvard.edu/bitstream/handle/1/3693423/Weitzman_OnModeling.pdf?sequence=2\",\n    \"target\": \"_blank\",\n    \"rel\": \"noopener noreferrer\"\n  }, \"Martin Weitzman has concluded\"), \"\\xA0that we may face a 1% to 5% chance of global warming more than 10\\xB0C.\\xA0 Climate scientists\\xA0\", mdx(\"a\", {\n    parentName: \"p\",\n    \"href\": \"http://www.pnas.org/content/107/21/9552.abstract\",\n    \"target\": \"_blank\",\n    \"rel\": \"noopener noreferrer\"\n  }, \"Steven Sherwood and Matthew Huber note that, because of the biology of our bodies, exposure to sufficiently high temperatures kills humans within hours\"), \".\\xA0 Their models predict that such a temperature increase would make half of the world\\u2019s currently inhabitable land literally unlivable for humans \\u2013 including essentially all of India.\\xA0 One percent may sound like a small probability, but it becomes very important when attached to such a catastrophe.\"), mdx(\"p\", null, \"Fortunately, many of the most useful steps would come at little cost to society. This is because about two-thirds of India\\u2019s carbon emissions from energy consumption are due to the consumption of coal.\\xA0 Coal is not merely harmful to future generations due to carbon emissions: it also releases pollutants in the air that make people ill today.\\xA0 The resulting sickness, loss of productivity, medical expenses, and deaths \\u2013 to say nothing of long-lasting, but difficult to measure, effects on the health of growing babies \\u2013 make coal terribly harmful to the people in India alive today.\"), mdx(\"p\", null, \"A\\xA0\", mdx(\"a\", {\n    parentName: \"p\",\n    \"href\": \"http://blog-imfdirect.imf.org/2014/09/17/carbon-pricing-good-for-you-good-for-the-planet/\",\n    \"target\": \"_blank\",\n    \"rel\": \"noopener noreferrer\"\n  }, \"paper by economists Ian Parry and coauthors\"), \"\\xA0analyzes several carbon emitting countries, including India. They find that coal is so very bad for our health that limiting carbon emissions would be a money-saver and life-saver even if we did not care about climate change at all.\\xA0 Politicians who claim that reducing emissions comes at a cost to development or India\\u2019s interests do not know the evidence: reducing coal emissions would both reduce emissions and make Indians healthier and more productive.\"), mdx(\"p\", null, \"In other words, even if the present generation of people in India were completely indifferent to the well-being of their future descendants and were completely indifferent to the welfare of people in other countries, it would still make selfish sense to tackle carbon emissions from coal. And with China getting on board, there is no longer any good excuse for India not to.\"), mdx(\"p\", null, \"China is already ahead of India on many dimensions of human development: infant mortality, female literacy, child stunting, and open defecation are only some of the most important for well-being.\"), mdx(\"p\", null, \"This week, when China committed to reversing its increase in carbon emissions, it moved ahead of India on yet another critical dimension of human well-being. Neither we in India nor the rest of the world can afford for India to neglect to close this gap.\"), mdx(\"p\", null, \"[\", \"All of my quantitative claims about international emissions in the opening paragraphs are based on this\\xA0\", mdx(\"a\", {\n    parentName: \"p\",\n    \"href\": \"http://www.eia.gov/environment/data.cfm#intl\",\n    \"target\": \"_blank\",\n    \"rel\": \"noopener noreferrer\"\n  }, \"EIA database\"), \".\", \"]\"));\n}\n;\nMDXContent.isMDXComponent = true;","tags":[{"name":"Blog Post","slug":"blog-post"}],"banner":null}}},"staticQueryHashes":["318001574","3787687951","3787687951"]}