China and U.S. Just Made a Historic Agreement on Carbon Emissions

This week at the APEC Summit in Beijing President Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping announced the terms of a historic agreement to collectively slow their nation’s carbon emissions. The deal between the nations—the world’s two biggest greenhouse gas emitters—has been in the works behind-the-scenes for nearly nine months. According to the agreement, the U.S. will decrease their emissions by up to 28% by 2025 (compared to 2005) and China will begin to reduce their overall emissions by 2030. President Obama told the Chinese leader, “When the U.S. and China are able to work together effectively, the whole world benefits” …