China is always a bit of an enigma to the West: It is the world\u2019s largest user of coal and the world\u2019s largest emitter of carbon dioxide; the world\u2019s largest car market; it has the world\u2019s largest shale gas resources; and it has been building entire \u201cghost cities\u201d with no one living in them. But it is also the world leader in energy transition, with more wind and solar deployment than any other nation; it has a massive grid construction program and the world\u2019s largest and most rapid high-speed rail construction program; and before long, it will probably have the world\u2019s largest market for electric vehicles.<\/p>\n
To understand the trajectory of the world\u2019s energy transition effort, we have to understand what\u2019s happening in China. But its official data are unreliable, and official statements can vary wildly from the facts on the ground. That\u2019s why in this episode we talk with James West, a senior digital editor for Mother Jones<\/em> and former senior producer for Climate Desk, who has traveled to China to get those stories firsthand.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" China is always a bit of an enigma to the West: It is the world\u2019s largest user of coal and the world\u2019s largest emitter of carbon dioxide; the world\u2019s largest car market; it has the world\u2019s largest shale gas resources; and it has been building entire \u201cghost cities\u201d with no one living in them. But […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[111,1145],"tags":[17,23,21,25,22,18,20,27,24,26,19],"class_list":["post-185","xen_episodes","type-xen_episodes","status-publish","hentry","category-energy-transition-show-podcasts","category-free-complete-shows","tag-china","tag-climate","tag-coal","tag-economic-growth","tag-emissions","tag-energy-transition","tag-fracking","tag-ghost-cities","tag-policy","tag-renewables","tag-shale-gas","xen_guests-james-west"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n