Kerry vows to help China go green

WASHINGTON, July 22 (UPI) -- Washington stands ready to help the Chinese government use more of its own natural gas as part of a bilateral green agenda, the U.S. secretary of state said.

The U.S. and Chinese governments met in mid July for an annual strategic and economic conference. Both sides said from Washington they were committed to working together to tackle environmental challenges.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said in an article for ThinkProgress, published Friday, the issue was more than a geopolitical one.

"It requires a new partnership with China to meet the challenge," he wrote.

China and the United States account for more than 40 percent of the greenhouse gas emissions produced globally every year.

Kerry said the U.S. government was committed to helping China shift from coal to cleaner-burning fuels like natural gas.

"In the United States, our gas revolution has helped drive down our carbon emissions to their lowest levels in 16 years as we shift to renewable and lower carbon fuels," he wrote. "We stand ready to help China do the same as we pioneer the clean technologies of the future."

New drilling technologies like hydraulic fracturing have led to exponential gains in U.S. natural gas production from shale. China may hold significant deposits of shale gas, though it may be more geologically complex to exploit than U.S. reserves.