Frances Beinecke's Blog: Greening China

In the Clean Energy Race, Jobs Can Stay in America

2010-02-23T18:54:19Z

There has been a lot of talk these days about the prospect of China outpacing America in the clean energy race. From a recent Los Angeles Times article reporting that China surpassed the United States in private clean-energy investment last year to a D.C. panel on Monday in which Senator Markey said, “If we don’t move, we are going to lose,” people are wondering whether America will be the frontrunner.

I believe America can still lead the clean energy market. If we pass strong climate legislation and focus our unparalleled innovation and entrepreneurial spirit, we can dominate the annual $230 billion clean energy investment the global clean energy industry is projected to attract by 2020.

Yet I have started to hear strains of defeatism coming from Congress.

Some senators say China has already won the race so we shouldn’t shift to clean energy and become dependent on its products. Others say that we won’t get any jobs out of clean energy because China’s low wages will steal them away.

In other words, the specter of China vaulting ahead into the 21st century energy future means we should stick with the same dirty technologies we have used since the Industrial Revolution.

Unlike some lawmakers, I am not ready to give up on America, especially not based on misguided notions about clean energy markets.

U.S. wind, solar, and geothermal resources actually grew during the recession of 2009, due in part to the federal stimulus package, which set aside $37 billion for clean energy and has already created roughly 18,000 clean energy jobs in the solar industry alone--even though most of the stimulus money has yet to hit the economy.

The stimulus was an incredible first step for the United States, but as China knows, the key to realizing the full potential is making a long-term commitment to clean energy--the kind of commitment that pays off in steady investment, jobs, and production.

America can build on the momentum of the stimulus--and keep pace with China--by passing clean energy and climate legislation. Economists have determined that it will create nearly 2 million jobs here in the United States.

In the face of record unemployment, senators owe it to American workers to get the facts straight about the enormous job opportunities we will gain by winning the clean energy race.

Manufacturing Here at Home is Cost-Effective

One common myth floating around is the idea that China is already winning the clean energy race, so if we invest in clean energy in the US it will only create manufacturing jobs in China--not here at home.

The fact is clean energy manufacturing jobs can be created in the US if we pass strong climate legislation because the jobs will follow the market demand.

In the last few years, China has become the world leader in the manufacturing of wind turbines and solar panels. Yes, average wages are lower in China, but China has sprinted ahead in manufacturing jobs largely because it has adopted policies that create long-term demand in China for clean energy products. Taken together, these two forces have created thousands of manufacturing jobs in China.

Even if much of China’s clean energy products continue to be manufactured in China, millions of clean energy jobs will be created here at home as well in order to meet our own demand for clean energy. Many clean energy products such as wind turbines are large, heavy, and fragile. It is not easy to ship them around the world. Indeed, transportation and logistics costs add 10 to 25 percent to the price of wind turbines. For this reason, it generally makes sense to manufacture wind turbines where the market is located, not halfway around the world.

Last year, for instance, the Isle of Wight in Great Britain lost many of its clean energy jobs when Danish wind-turbine manufacturer Vestas moved part of its production to the United States, where the turbines were being installed. The reason: it simply made more sense to manufacture the turbines close to where they would be used instead of shipping them across the ocean.

I heard a similar story when I was in Cleveland last year. Developers are planning to build a wind farm around Lake Erie, right offshore of the city. They chose this site in part because there are already 90 companies in Ohio manufacturing the 8,000 different parts it takes to build a turbine. As one local leader involved in the project explained: “We have companies making bearings, generators, electronics, and fasteners [for turbines] within a half-hour drive of Terminal Tower” in downtown Cleveland.

If the Senate passes strong climate legislation that expands the market for clean energy and creates long-term demand for clean energy products in the US, manufacturing communities across America will look more like Cleveland than the Isle of Wight. [For a view of Ohio’s clean energy sector, watch this ABC News’ report with Charlie Gibson.]

Most Green Jobs Are in Installation and Maintenance

Another myth frequently passed around is that most clean energy jobs are in the manufacturing sector. In fact, the majority are in installation and maintenance.

Most people recognize that you can’t give the job of insulating an American home to a worker in China. But the potential for clean energy jobs in America goes far beyond efficiency retrofits.

Studies by Barclays, Greenpeace, and the European Photovoltaic Industry Association have found that 75 percent of all solar panel jobs are in the installation and maintenance of the panels--neither of which can be done from overseas. The trend is similar for other clean energy technologies, and this means good news for American carpenters, welders, energy auditors, HVAC specialists, installers, retailers, service engineers and truck drivers, who will enjoy the majority of clean energy job opportunities.

These are good paying jobs. The Bureau of Labor Statistics cites industry sources that estimated solar photovoltaic installers earn between $15 and $20.96 per hour, depending on experience. Compare that to the mean salary for an assembler at a Detroit factory: $14.19.

All told, the average salary in the installation, maintenance, and repair occupations is about 15 percent higher than the average salary in production jobs in Detroit.

America Has the Technological Advantage

Thanks to our research institutions and venture capital community, America leads the world in technological innovation. Right now, we still have an edge in clean energy expertise, from cleaner power plants and cleaner cars to more efficient industrial processes.

When China announced plans to launch the world’s largest solar power plant in Inner Mongolia, for instance, it looked to American company First Solar (based in Ohio) because of its advanced thin-film solar cell technology.

And significantly, four of the five largest venture capital funding rounds in the global clean tech sector in 2008 went to US-based companies, including thin-film solar company Solyndra, advanced battery developer A123 Systems, smart grid company Silver Spring Networks, and fuel-efficient automaker V-Vehicle.

Still, China, not to mention Germany, Denmark, and Spain, are poised to leap ahead in the clean tech race since these countries have already put in place climate and clean energy policies similar to what is now being debated in the senate.

The best way for America to ensure our spot at the forefront of this global market is to pass a clean energy and climate law that will give companies across the economy the incentives they need to invest in low-carbon technologies.

Obama's China Trip: A Breakthrough on Clean Energy and Climate

2009-11-18T16:26:58Z

Earlier this week, NRDC's China program director Barbara Finamore was at China's official state guesthouse--the same spot President Nixon stayed when he opened U.S.-China relations in 1972--when U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu announced that the United States and China would sign several cooperative agreements on clean energy.

The guesthouse was full of top government officials and energy innovators from both countries attending a Clean Energy Roundtable, and they responded to the announcement with considerable enthusiasm. These influential leaders recognize the urgency of climate change and understand the need for China and the United States to each take action.

This clean energy meeting in Beijing was one of several auxiliary events that made President Obama's trip to China a significant breakthrough on the climate front.

Some press accounts have claimed the trip fell short, because it did not result in firm commitments to reduce emissions on either side of the Pacific. I never expected it would.

But we have to acknowledge the enormous progress this trip signaled on both sides of the Pacific.

Recall that for eight long years, America was absent from the climate discussion. President Bush doubted the crisis existed and failed to take any action whatsoever. In sharp contrast, President Obama has put America back into a position of leadership in 10 short months. Not only has he asked the EPA to regulate carbon dioxide from cars and power plants and pressed Congress to pass national climate legislation, but he has also used his time on the world stage--at the United Nations and in China--to call for a binding international agreement.

Similar progress has occurred in China. Up until three years ago, China looked at global warming as someone else's problem; the government essentially refused to talk about it. In fact, when NRDC started working in China to address global warming, we could not speak those words. We had to talk about pollution and energy efficiency instead.

Since then, China has realized that it is in its own best interests to address global warming, and it has begun the process. It has enacted stringent fuel economy standards for cars, launched what may be the world's most ambitious energy efficiency program, committed to generating 10 percent of its electricity from renewables by 2010, and 15 percent by 2020, and invested billions of dollars in green energy technologies.

Both nations still need to do more. Ultimately, they must each commit to emissions limits and fixed timetables. But the fact that President Obama and President Hu Jintao met together to talk about climate change--a problem neither nation officially acknowledged just a few years ago--represents a huge leap down the path toward confronting this crisis.

The agreements they signed on Tuesday will start making their progress concrete. The energy efficiency action plan, for instance, will bring U.S. and Chinese officials together to develop energy efficient building codes and labeling systems, set benchmarks for efficiency in the industrial sector, and train inspectors to ensure these standards are being met. The joint agreements on electric vehicles and renewable power will bring similar on-the-ground advances (see Barbara Finamore's recent post for more details).

I hope that other nations will recognize these unprecedented developments as proof that China and the United States are both serious about solving climate change as we head into the Copenhagen talks.

Those talks remain critically important, even as Danish Prime Minister Rasmussen has proposed the "one agreement, two steps" approach, which will extend the release of the final, legally binding agreement by a few months.

Copenhagen is one stop on a long journey. The Singapore decision maintains momentum as we head into the December summit. It will clear the air and prevent finger-pointing about who is lagging behind. Instead, we can use the talks to map out specific commitments that will get us to a real binding agreement within the year.

Indeed, this approach gives countries a chance to solidify their individual commitments to reduce global warming pollution. This in turn could help push the U.S. Senate to pass its climate law, because if developing nations like China announce their pledges for reductions, it sends a clear signal that the United States will not be acting alone.

Judging from the meetings in Beijing, neither the United States nor China will be acting alone in the future.

Obama's Trip to China: a New Interest in Clean Tech and a New Spirit of Cooperation

2009-11-12T19:13:27Z

As President Obama heads to China, it is important to recognize just how much has changed in the past year. For the first time ever, an American president is traveling to Beijing with the issue of climate change at the top of his agenda. This kind of focus would have been unthinkable during the Bush administration, but in the past 10 months, Obama has directed federal agencies and urged Congress to take real action on climate.

But that is only half of the story. The long-held belief that China isn't doing much to confront climate change has now become old news too.

Under the leadership of President Hu Jintao, China has taken bold steps to reduce its energy use. Yet one of the most interesting threads in this new China narrative is rarely told on this side of the Pacific: China's private sector is as eager to make these changes as China's government.

I saw it for myself when I went to China in September. Clean energy innovation was at the center of every conversation I had with Chinese business executives and the media, not to mention government officials (including Minister Xie, China's lead climate negotiator).

While I was in Shanghai, I attended a clean tech conference. It was co-sponsored by the local American Chamber of Commerce, so about two-thirds of the participants were Westerners, and the rest were Chinese. At the end, someone asked me, "Did you notice that the Chinese business people were here at the beginning of the conference, but they didn't stay? They are more focused on action than on talking."

The reason is obvious: there is enormous market potential here. A recent report estimated that the potential clean technology market in China in 2013 could be between $500 billion to $1 trillion. Meanwhile, China is set to become the world's leading manufacturer of wind turbines this year, and is already the top producer of photovoltaic cells for solar energy.

This explosive private growth is no doubt inspired by government policy. China has set renewables targets of 10 percent for 2010 and 15 percent by 2020. It is also reportedly preparing plans to invest between $440 billion and $660 billion in the next 10 years on alternative energy development in what could be the largest government renewables program in the world--part of its effort to boost China's clean energy industry.

America can no longer say we are waiting for China to move first before we act on climate solutions. The train has already left the station.

We need to set our own clean energy innovators in motion now if we want to keep the pace. We need to put our own clean energy policies in place, such as the climate legislation now before the Senate. As I explain in my new book, Clean Energy Common Sense, this will not only put us at the forefront of a global market, but it will also put millions of Americans to work.

Yet the truth is if China and America both work to expand clean energy technologies, this isn't a competition. This is an opportunity where we can all win.

We will all benefit from making clean tech advances--whether they are Chinese or American--and from bringing cost downs for these new technologies. And of course, the whole planet will benefit from these two major polluters reducing their carbon emissions.

This is the new landscape in which President Obama and President Hu Jintao are meeting. Both nations have made their own efforts to confront climate change. Now it is time for us to work together on this global challenge.

While it is unlikely that President Obama's visit will generate new commitments to cut emissions, Obama and Hu Jintao will probably agree to work together on a variety of efforts, including expanding energy efficiency, developing electric vehicles, building capacity to measure and report emissions, and even opening a joint clean energy research center that would employee both Chinese and American engineers.

This kind of tangible bi-lateral progress will help clear the way toward significant progress in Copenhagen and beyond. And that is what we need to see--momentum that will carry us over the long-term.

For as welcome as both China and America's climate actions have been in the past year, they are only the beginning. Truly combating global warming will take sustained commitments from both of the world's biggest polluters, and these efforts will be far more effective if they are done cooperatively.

Green Building: A Critical Climate Solution Spreads across China

2009-09-23T19:17:00Z

This week, as people from all over the world assemble at the United Nations for Climate Week, I am reminded of another international gathering spot I went to just 10 days ago--Beijing's Olympic Village.

What do these two places have in common? Solving climate change.

The United Nations may be the site of critical climate conversations, but the Olympic Village is where one of our most important climate solutions is being put into action: green building.

While I was in China two weeks ago, NRDC released a study on green building that we conducted with The Boston Consulting Group. Called From Gray to Green: How Energy-Efficient Buildings Can Help Make China's Rapid Urbanization Sustainable, the report found that buildings account for about 25 percent of China's total energy use--as much as China's cement, iron, and steel sectors combined.

Fortunately, our study revealed that China can cut energy use by up to 70 percent using existing green building techniques--thinks like installing better insulation and efficient windows, using natural lighting, and retrofitting heating and cooling systems.

Even with modest efforts in green building could cut global warming pollution dramatically. If by 2015, 5 percent of China's existing buildings and 60 percent of its new buildings could improve efficiency by 50 percent, it would be the equivalent of:

Turning off all the lights in American for one month
Saving the electricity from 550 coal-fired power plants

These are savings on a grand scale, and that is just what China needs as it works to confront its carbon emissions.

What I find most inspiring about my visit to China was how rapidly government officials and private businesses are embracing the power of efficiency and green building.

For 30 years, NRDC has been telling the efficiency story in the United States, and while some utilities and states like California have caught on, progress has been slow. In China, efficiency is a much bigger story. This is in part because China's efficiency per GDP is a lot lower than America's, so there is room to make great improvements. But people also see the climate and cost-saving benefits of efficiency as well.

Cities across China are beginning to launch significant green building and energy efficiency projects--some, I am proud to say, NRDC helped to develop.

Beijing, for instance, has implemented energy-saving standards across urban and rural areas. Hangzhou is doing energy retrofits of 600 large public buildings. And Wuhan has started conducting energy audits of large public buildings.

Just like in the United States, China's green buildings have become attractive properties. That is certainly the case in the Olympic Village. I found the village to be extremely appealing. It is filled with eco-friendly, beautifully designed garden apartments, built on the very humane scale of five or six stories each.

Here is a photo I took of Barbara Finamore, the director of NRDC's China clean energy project, standing in front of some of the apartments.

Thanks to its water and energy efficiency features, the Olympic Village was awarded LEED-ND Gold certification, one of the world's highest grades for environmental community design.

The Olympic Village is a large government-sponsored project, but entrepreneurs in China are getting into the act as well. While I was in Shanghai, I visited the URBN Hotel. The owners masterfully transformed an old post office (using mostly recycled materials) into an architecturally interesting, modern hotel. The building's green features help save up 35 percent on energy and water use compared to similar hotels.

They also save money. Jules Kwan, one of the owners, says, "If you're smart in the planning stage, you can actually build more economically through being eco-friendly. The bottom line is that it doesn't have to cost more; it can cost you less."

These green building projects are just the beginning. China has enormous opportunities to tap its energy efficiency resources. It will take sustained commitment on the part of national and local governments, builders, and residents. But the rewards from getting it right will be enormous, not just for the Chinese, but for all the people around the globe who are trying to save the planet from climate change.

"Climate Week" and My Talks with China's Top Negotiator

2009-09-21T20:45:42Z

Climate Week has begun, and as foreign dignitaries descend on the United Nations and the Clinton Global Initiative annual meeting, I think most of the world's nations will be singing a shared refrain: it is time for the United States to take action on global warming.

That is the message I heard two weeks ago when I met China's top climate negotiator, Minister Xie Zhenhua, in Beijing. Our conversation was an informative, cordial follow-up to a meeting we had in Washington in the spring.

Once again, Minister Xie said he hopes that Congress will pass a U.S. climate bill before international negotiations begin in Copenhagen in December. He noted that the EU has committed to a 20 to 30 percent reduction in global warming pollution from 1990 levels, and both Australia and Japan have raised their targets to 25 percent. "All these developed countries are very positive," he said. "Now it is the U.S.'s turn."

Of course he is right, and I agreed that the U.S. needs to demonstrate leadership.

But I also said that the NRDC staff at the meeting did not represent the U.S. government. Our client is the planet, and the health of the Earth demands that the U.S. AND China do everything they can do to avert disaster. Political boundaries don't matter in the atmosphere. We all have to act.

Minister Xie described some of the measures China is already taking to lower its carbon emissions--including some far-reaching efficiency programs that NRDC helped design.

He also talked knowledgeably about developments in the United States. He has traveled to Washington several times to meet with President Obama and members of Congress and the business community.

Interestingly, two U.S. leaders recently flew to Beijing to meet with him. Senator Maria Cantwell from Washington came, possibly because she helped set up a US-China Clean Energy Forum and she sees tech transfer opportunities for her state. Indiana's Governor Mitch Daniels also visited, perhaps because he is concerned about losing manufacturing jobs to China.

Even though the minister was well informed about the Congressional landscape, I wanted to make sure he knew about the groundswell outside of Washington. I told him about the very broad, very deep coalition of environmental, labor, business, religious, and youth groups raising our voices in support of clean energy and climate legislation.

I said we won't let up until the bill is passed. And I reminded him that we are halfway there, since the House passed its climate bill in June. Minister Xie said that was good news for Copenhagen.

What I found most encouraging about my conversation with Minister Xie--and with other high-level officials and entrepreneurs--is that most seem to grasp the urgent need to embrace clean energy solutions like efficiency.

When you travel to China, you get the sense that it is a nation on the move. Some of what is created out of that momentum will be good, but some won't. On either side, the scale will be enormous.

This is especially true in the energy sector. The Chinese will likely implement more clean energy solutions than any other nation--more efficiency, solar, wind, and biofuels. But they will also likely use more coal-fired power and more nuclear power. One task ahead is to level the playing field by ensuring that the full costs of every energy technology are reflected in its price, and that environmental laws are fully enforced, so that renewable energy can compete successfully.

Luckily, clean technology is already gearing up. I attended a clean tech conference in Shanghai co-sponsored by the local American Chamber of Commerce and the Asia Society. About two-thirds of the participants were Westerners; the rest were Chinese. At the end, someone asked me, "Did you notice that the Chinese business people were here at the beginning of the conference, but they didn't stay? They are more focused on action than on talking."

That is what we should be focused on here in America. We need to take swift action in order to confront global warming and to unleash energy innovation here at home. Maybe then the rest of the world will do the same.

China's Environmental Law Moves Forward

2009-09-16T15:52:44Z

I was in Beijing last week for a series of meetings with our China team. Fifteen years ago, NRDC was the first international environmental NGO to establish a program on clean energy issues in China. Today, we have an office in Beijing with more than 25 staff focusing on a range of energy and environmental issues.

As China experts will tell you, one of the great challenges in Chinese environmental protection is the need to develop stronger environmental laws and policies, as well as the mechanisms to enforce them.

These are issues that have been central to NRDC's work in the U.S. for 40 years. Building on this experience, we established a program to work with China to encourage better implementation of environmental laws several years ago (we were the first international NGO to do so). We have worked with government agencies to draft stronger legislation, collaborated with Chinese universities and think tanks to develop proposals for environmental policy reform, and organized capacity-building workshops for local-level environmental officials, environmental groups, judges, lawyers, and journalists.

In the U.S., the environmental law revolution that began in the early 1970s was critical to cleaning up the environment. But perhaps even more important have been the mechanisms to make sure these laws are implemented in practice--and the dedication of citizen groups, government agencies and other stakeholders to make sure they are used effectively.

A recent expose in the New York Times revealed just how critical strong enforcement is. The article explained that 40 years after Congress passed the Clean Water Act, violations of the law have risen steadily in recent years, yet many violators go unpunished. The results are grave: Americans are exposed to toxins that cause cancer and other serious illnesses. The article reminds us that even with good laws on the books, we must remain vigilant. That is true in America, and it is true in China, as well.

During my trip this past week, I learned about the tremendous amount of work going on in China, not just within the government, but also from the Chinese public to develop better environmental laws and put in place the systems that will drive better implementation. It has been remarkable to see.

For example, on Thursday we paid a visit to China's Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP). We have been working with MEP and other bureaus for more than a year on the latest amendment to the Atmospheric Pollution Prevention and Control Law -China's "Clean Air Act."

Air pollution in China remains a serious challenge, and China is exploring a wide range of new ways to deal with the problem, including regional air pollution mechanisms, expanded permitting, stronger enforcement provisions and tougher controls on vehicle emissions.

We also learned about proposals to incorporate pollution reduction goals in China's 12th Five-Year Plan focused on a number of highly-polluting industrial sectors (power, cement, iron-steel, etc.) and key pollutants (fine particulates, mercury, volatile organic compounds, etc.).

Of course, the best laws and policies are meaningless without good implementation. On Thursday night, I had the chance to have dinner with some of China's top environmentalists who are working on-the-ground to bring about better implementation and enforcement of environmental laws.

Ma Jun, one of China's best-known environmentalists, talked to me about his work to make transparency about emissions of pollutants the norm in China. We recently worked with Ma Jun on a Pollution Information Transparency Index, an evaluation of the degree of environmental transparency in 113 Chinese cities (see here).

I also talked with our old friend Professor Wang Canfa, China's top environmental litigator. He was our first partner in China in the environmental law area, and he is working as hard as ever to create environmental rule of law in China. We have been working together to promote implementation of China's new environmental courts and to train Chinese lawyers and judges in environmental law.

Li Bo, the director of Friends of Nature - China's first environmental NGO, described to me his efforts to build a nationwide membership of environmentalists that can more effectively engage in local efforts at environmental protection. Some of these members are holding local companies accountable for their pollution and pressing for accurate disclosure of pollution levels.

We also met with Wang Yongchen, Global Village of Beijing, iCET and others who are taking the initiative to improve China's environment.

These are the types of efforts that will drive better implementation of environmental laws, and it is truly remarkable to see the amount of good work going on. Building a strong, enforceable framework for environmental law is essential to China's battle with "traditional" pollution and will be critical as China moves forward to address the challenges of climate change. The glimpse I had at China's efforts in this regard was impressive. If China continues to grow and expand these efforts, it has the potential to make a big difference for China's environment and for the entire world.

You can read more about these issues at NRDC's Greenlaw blog, our bilingual blog focused on discussion of China's environmental law, policy and civil society.

Countdown to Copenhagen: Why the U.S. Must Act at Home

2009-04-01T19:16:18Z

Yesterday marked the long-awaited release of the Waxman-Markey "discussion draft" of a clean energy and climate bill. I welcomed this development. After all, I have worked for more than a decade to prepare for the moment we find ourselves in: at last the president of America and the U.S. Congress are seriously grappling with how to curb global warming.

It is gratifying to see, but I can't help but wonder: will they come to a resolution fast enough?

The clock is ticking. In December, the international community will meet in Copenhagen to forge a new climate agreement to replace the Kyoto Protocol (click here to see how many days, minutes, seconds until the conference). Already this week, preliminary meetings began in Bonn (see my colleague Jake Schmidt's reports from Bonn here).

All parties agree that if the United States has not already taken significant steps at home to reduce its global warming pollution before Copenhagen begins, the international effort to stop climate change will be deeply undermined.

I am concerned that time is running out. There is a lot of climate activity in Washington now, but is it moving fast enough? Is it headed in the right direction? The draft legislative language released by Reps. Waxman and Markey was a promising start, but can it get passed in time?

Between now and the negotiations in Copenhagen, I am going to write regular posts about new climate action--at the White House, at the EPA, in Congress, and on the International Stage--and assess whether America is moving at the right pace.

Today I want to describe a meeting I recently attended that underscored for me just how much is riding on the United States taking fast action.

The meeting was with Minister Xie Zhenhua, the lead climate negotiator for China. Just like Secretary of State Hilary Clinton's trip to China to discuss global warming, the minister's presence in Washington was a welcome sign. He came to talk with the Obama administration, members of Congress, and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon. I spoke with him at a meeting of the U.S. Climate Action Partnership.

It was obvious from what Minister Xie told us that China is deeply engaged with climate policy. The minister outlined for us what China was willing to do, but stressed that it would need money for technology transfer and adaptation.

But Minister Xie also made it very clear that the United States has to act first. He said the United States has to come to Copenhagen with a real commitment to lower our emissions at home in order for China to be willing to join an international framework.

Most of us in the room agreed. After all, even though China recently surpassed the United States in global warming emissions, we still have the highest per capita emissions on the planet.

America can and must take leadership on this issue, and international delegates like Minister Xie and visiting Washington to figure out if we actually will.

Most of them are getting mixed messages. In his round of meetings, Minister Xie heard great things from the White House and great things from Henry Waxman, but he also heard a lot of resistance from some members of Congress.

It's not going to be easy getting a climate bill through Congress by December. Yet we must avoid what happened in Kyoto, which is when the U.S. negotiators signed the treaty, but Congress failed to ratify it.

The coming months will be critical to avoiding that kind of diplomatic debacle. We still have time to pass a U.S. climate law before Copenhagen--a move that will not only place us at the forefront of international climate leadership, but also create millions of jobs here at home. We just have to use the time we have wisely.