A smoggy sunset in Beijing (Mike Behnken, Creative Commons)

This past week Diane Sawyer of ABC World News had a multi-episode series on Chinese growth. One of the episodes specifically focused on China’s green revolution and was entitled China Goes Green.

Although many attribute this energy revolution to competition, the Chinese say energy efficiency is a matter of necessity. According to Cheng Li from the Brookings Institute, China must become more environmentally friendly to survive under the constraints of their large population’s energy usage.

With 6 million new cars going on the road this past year alone, and more to come, alternatives are needed to prevent the loss of natural resources for the world's biggest population.

Some American political leaders feel that the Chinese are competitively unfair by accusing their green industries of having government support. Brian Li, from Yingli Solar says that he does not believe this to be necessarily true. But, even if it were true, why should this be of concern to the U.S.? The Chinese are succeeding at improving and evolving into a more energy efficient society, despite contributing a large amount of pollutants to the atmosphere. Their needs seem very similar to American needs.

Undoubtedly, the Chinese are still dependent on oil. If they were not, they would not have invested so heavily in Africa, which does the bulk of it’s business with Chinese in the oil industry. Although Africa has nine percent of the current oil reserves in the world, many speculate that there is an abundance of hidden oil. This may be source of the United States' frustration with China’s green revolution.

It is becoming more apparent that at the rate that things are going, China can potentially change the energy business without considering American business interests.

Within the past few weeks, China has secured roughly 23 billion dollars in nuclear technology from France. This comes on the back of French President Nicholas Sarkozy rebuking the Chinese government’s policy towards Tibet. 

Money, however, has changed their relationship with France growing sweet toward China. The need for China's financial and business support is too great for the French. According to Sarkozy, the two countries have decided on “strategic cooperation without limits.”

Although many shudder in fear at a potential nuclear arsenal, the Chinese may be beaming with hope in nuclear efficient energy. Nuclear power is a source of bountiful, efficient energy, and one the cleanest sources that we know of. Already, the Chinese are estimated to spend 12 times the amount of money that the U.S. does on Green energy investment.

Travel has also improved with a brand new high-speed train track that is connecting China's territories in record times. Their trains travel at speeds of 230 miles an hour. A trip that takes an hour and thirty minutes in America takes 30 minutes in China. By the years' end, they plan on testing a new train that travels 500 km per hour, which is roughly 310 miles per hour. Other innovations in technology and energy include entire country towns powered by solar energy, and energy efficient escalators that only begin moving when they are stepped on.

By looking at China’s work in the green sector through the lens of Social Darwinism, the Chinese are poised to stay alive in a race for the survival of the fittest. But, they have also made a choice to improve systematically. Although many Americans do not want their government to be so large, many would enjoy improved transportation, paying less for gas, and being able to contribute to improving our world.

Reach Contributor Kai Parham here.

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