Saturday, July 24, 2010

One more sign of the changing world

And another indication of our decline from #1. This time it's becoming #2 in energy consumption. China is now the biggest consumer of energy in the world. We had been #1 for about one hundred years. True, we are still at the top of the class on a per capita basis and probably will be for some years, but the shift in total energy usage has wide implications on a geopolitical basis. And the impact on climate change policy - and actions - could be decisive.

I'm sure there will be some who believe that a major reason for the change is that we have become more energy efficient, which is a good thing. They have a point. However, we are still #1 in per capita energy usage, so we're still using a hell of a lot of energy.

I see the situation as another indication of the decline of our empire.

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