As I’ve noted before, conservatives like to use China’s and India’s increasing carbon pollution as an excuse to do nothing on global warming, Of course, all they’re doing is following our dirty lead.
But, as the Los Angeles Times reports, they’re not just following our lead. They’re following our money.
At the Group of 8 summit of world leaders in June, President Bush repeated his calls for developing nations to curb their emissions of greenhouse gases … “We all can make major strides, and yet there won’t be a reduction until China and India are participants,” he told reporters.
But just weeks earlier, the U.S. government had pledged to help finance one of the world’s most advanced oil refineries, taking shape in Jamnagar, India. The facility … will annually emit nearly 9 million metric tons of carbon dioxide — the major contributor to global warming — into the atmosphere.
This is not an isolated incident, but long-standing, short-sighted policy: