China

The best way to understand the role of China in America's global warming debate is to understand the function it plays in the national psyche. Here's one analysis.

America has made China the victim of its own psychological projection, a defense mechanism in which one blames others for one's own unacceptable attributes.

So rather than take responsibility for being far and away the world's biggest global warming polluters on a per capita basis, Americans have been duped into pointing the finger at China.

The average American is responsible for six times more greenhouse gas emissions than the average Chinese person. It's an inconvenient fact so uncomfortable that the response is to blame the Chinese instead.

Here's another one: all those coal plants and carbon emissions in China? A substantial chunk of that pollution is produced in order to supply the goods to feed the insatiable demand of American consumer culture. Whose emissions are they, really? Read this report from the Tyndall Centre on Climate Change Research called "Who Owns China's Carbon Emissions?" for an answer.

This is not to deny that China must be an important part of solving climate globally; but it is going to be impossible to engage in mature diplomatic discussions unless we stop blaming China for our own faults.