Claims by China that it has significantly reduced its greenhouse gas emissions may be a bunch of hooey. A Japanese scientist funded by the World Bank found that coal production hasn’t gone down nearly as much as represented by China. Other researchers assert that oil consumption is increasing in the country at a faster clip than reported. Although vehicle traffic in Chinese cities has been doubling about every five years, official data show oil consumption rising only 11.4 percent from 1996 to 1999. A separate World Bank report released last week warned that economic growth in China is overwhelming efforts to protect the environment.
