Rich China, poor China conundrum as clout grows brings up the issue of China playing two games on the global economic market. “China has [caused] raised eyebrows when [the country] appeared to be demanding more rights as an unquestioned economic power while pleading poverty [if] asked to shoulder greater obligations,” writes Paul Eckert, the Asia Correspondent at Reuters. China plays the established economic powerhouse game–China holds 2 trillion in foreign reserves–when this is a convenient game to play–but, simultaneously, the World Bank groups China in lower-middle-income countries, with $936-3,705 in annual per capita income, based on 2007 data.

Considering this aspect of Chinese international economics is beyond my scope. However, it helps me to understand Chinese actors to better understand the framework from which they are operating. This goes back to when Jeff and I wrote about the stories that we won’t tell.

This morning I saw this article, Is Global Warming Not a Big Concern?, and it did not surprise me. Ironically, among the top concerns in the United States are education. Thirty percent of Americans polled say global warming is a top concern, and, says Foxnews.com, “Not surprisingly — the economy is the number one issue. Eighty-five percent said it was a top priority — followed by jobs, terrorism, Social Security and education.”

I’m happy that education is a top concern, because this will solve the problem of apathy about the environment as well.

Further exploring Foxnews, and I see that the outlet reported that China censored Obama’s inaugural address, deleting words like “communism” and references to dissent. I don’t think it’s O.K. to do this. I don’t think it’s O.K. to do much of what happened during the last American administration, but I can express this sentiment in the U.S. safely, and that is what makes me feel comfortable here, my video editor helped me to understand. We need to give China a little more time and space to defend itself.

I am just one positive, hopeful voice about the Chinese environmental movement, and Foxnews is just one other voice. I can be sure that I’m honestly reporting what I saw in China, and it is true that Foxnews could report something completely different accurately. We are only making a movie about what we saw in China, and Jeff brought this up previously, our story is very limited.

NYTimes ran this piece yesterday about how China plans to become the world’s leader in electric cars in three years.

takepart.com linked to the article, commenting that, “And, it seems that because China never really got into the game with gas-powered vehicles, the country is well-positioned to do this, because it’s just skipping the current technology and going straight to the new hybrid/electric technology.” This leap-frogging of development has been brought up by contacts in the field as well, but it’s good to see the idea manifested in an actual quantitative example.

I feel like tides are starting to turn, so I’m not always searching searching for sources to back up my hopefulness about China now. I heard Al Gore speak on Monday at the Boston Speakers Series. Gore made a point that I really liked–he is also extremely optimistic about climate change. crisis or opportunity? Gore made the point that people who are avid to impact change don’t want individuals to think that it’s too late to avert substantial climate change–if it were too late, this would mean more business as usual. We’re not over any kind of tipping point yet, so don’t stop making behavoiral changes because they all add up to something substantial. Chinese kids in environmental education programs tell us that it’s just one plastic bag, but it’s one plastic bag times every person who is mindful of the way that he is impacting his environment.

Gore brought up climate refugees in Bangeladesh and in Darfur, and it made me wonder if it will take being personally affected by climate change to have strong feelings about it. This makes me think of developing our sense of place and how important this is towards fostering our feelings about  sustainability.  I always hold with me the sense of place that I had growing up on the lake in Maine, and this helped me to feel this sense again at Tiger Leaping Gorge in Yunnan, China in 2005. Previously in this web space, I’ve asked how to teach this sense of place?