The Issue of Chinese Emissions

When considering questions of development and pollution, measuring pollutants emitted as a function of energy production is one of the most effective measures for obtaining a base understanding of a nation's level of such practices. Obviously, there are other major sources of pollution be it industrial waste, or automotive exhaust, but energy production given its massive scale and comparatively easily discernible figure (its much easier to go off of their albeit questionable figures, rather than attempt to catalogue and draw empirical conclusions on the multitude of small polluters). That being said, despite the CCP discussing stricter and wide-ranging measures for controlling, reporting, and limiting emissions in its twelfth five-year plan it is still extremely difficult to gauge an accurate reading on levels of particulates emitted. Yuhan Zhang of Columbia university notes this, and speaks of a practice that has seemed to become culturally entrenched. Hit the jump to get the full analysis of emisisons figures, standards, regulations, and how those will all continue to intermingle for many years going forward.