China on the move

China is taking the lead in the production of green energy hardware, according to a NYT posting, and the government is helping with costs:

The Chinese government charges a renewable energy fee to all electricity users. The fee increases residential electricity bills by 0.25 percent to 0.4 percent. For industrial users of electricity, the fee doubled in November to roughly 0.8 percent of the electricity bill.

The fee revenue goes to companies that operate the electricity grid, to make up the cost difference between renewable energy and coal-fired power.

The kicker, of course, is that their manufacturing is often so dirty. Green dirt. The country’s conversion to new energy sources isn’t quite keeping up with production, so they’re looking elsewhere to peddle the gear:

With prices tumbling, China’s wind and solar industries are increasingly looking to sell equipment abroad — and facing complaints by Western companies that they have unfair advantages. When a Chinese company reached a deal in November to supply turbines for a big wind farm in Texas, there were calls in Congress to halt federal spending on imported equipment.

WARMING/COOLING: How can the climate be warming while temperatures in many areas are falling? I just saw a letter in the Telegram from someone inviting Al Gore to Michigan, as though it’s no longer supposed to be cold in Michigan in the winter? Are people forgetting where they are and what it’s like? Do they think global warming means Michigan won’t have winter anymore?

Anyway, here’s a story about a decrease in water vapor that might be explain why global temperatures have stabilized:

Despite the decrease in water vapor, the study’s authors said, the overall trend is still toward a warming climate, primarily caused by a buildup in emissions of carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases from human sources.

POLL: Michael Tomasky reports on an NBC/Wall Street Journal poll. He says the extreme right is loud, but not representative:

The question: Will your vote for Congress this November be a vote to send a signal of support for President Obama, a signal of opposition to President Obama, or not a signal either way about President Obama?

Answers: support for, 37%; not a signal, 35%; opposition to, 27%.