ENVIRONMENT: US to pressure coal-burning nations

The United States will pressure all nations to reduce dependence on coal, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Monday, warning that “we won’t have much of the world left” without stronger leadership from Washington on climate change.

“Our diplomats will challenge the practices of countries whose action, or inaction, is pushing us back,” Blinken said in a speech before President Joe Biden’s climate summit later this week, according to anticipated excerpts.

“When countries continue to depend on coal for a significant amount of their energy, or invest in new coal factories, or allow massive deforestation, they hear from the United States and our partners about how harmful these actions are,” he underlines in his text.

Coal is the dirtiest form of energy, but also a particularly sensitive political issue in both China, the world’s largest emitter of greenhouse gases, and the United States.

China, despite its promise to become carbon neutral by 2060, has made progress in building coal plants.

The United States, under the recent mandate of former Republican President Donald Trump, abandoned the Paris climate accord by declaring itself champion of the coal miners, although the demand for coal has continued to fall in the country.

In the speech in Annapolis, Maryland, Blinken said the United States would take action on its own and did not view the climate simply “through the prism of threats.”

“If the United States does not lead the world in addressing the climate crisis, we will not have much of the world available to us,” he said.