Can China Spare A Square?

China Seems Poised to Pass U.S. As Top Greenhouse-Gas Emitter (WSJ-sub req):

China is set to surpass the U.S. as the world's top emitter of greenhouse gases this year -- much earlier than forecast -- because of its rapid economic growth, according to the International Energy Agency.

Moreover, Beijing's refusal to put limits on China's greenhouse-gas emissions will allow them to increase nearly unchecked and erase gains made elsewhere in the world, the IEA's chief economist, Fatih Birol, said in an interview. That could seriously weaken efforts to design a global greenhouse-gas treaty to replace the Kyoto Protocol.

The IEA, which advises developed countries on energy policy, previously had predicted China's emissions of greenhouse gases would surpass those of the U.S. by 2010. Greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide are released by burning fossil fuels and are believed by most climate scientists to cause or at least contribute to global warming.

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Mr. Birol said China's increasing carbon-dioxide emissions, which stem from its near-total reliance on domestic coal to power its economy, are expected to dwarf reductions in emissions from Europe, the U.S. and Japan.

Unchecked, over the next 25 years, the growth of China's greenhouse-gas emissions is forecast to double that of all the members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, which includes, Europe, the U.S., Canada, South Korea and Japan.

Will Sheryl Crow and Laurie David now be travelling to Beijing to point fingers at Chinese authorities? What's the range on those private jets anyway?