U.S. President Donald Trump¡¯s betrayal of the Paris climate accord provoked something extraordinary from Tokyo: criticism. Since the start of his presidency in January, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe¡¯s Japan turned a blind eye to Trump¡¯s bluster and unilateralism. America shirking its environmental responsibilities, though, proved an indignity too far for its most important Asian ally.
Environment Minister Koichi Yamamoto minced no words about Trump¡¯s ¡°decision to turn his back on the hard-won wisdom of humanity.¡± Yet there¡¯s another bit of hard-won wisdom that both Abe and Yamamoto must internalize, and fast: how Trump¡¯s coal fetish is a huge opportunity for Japan.
The conventional wisdom is that China is the big winner as President Xi Jinping fills the global leadership void. It¡¯s sad, but true, that by dragging America back to the 20th Century, Trump is ceding the renewable-energy arms race of the 21st to Chinese solar, wind and battery companies. It¡¯s also true that Japan is uniquely positioned to help China, India, Indonesia and other upstarts avoid choking on their rapid growth ¡ª and profit greatly amid the process.
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