“Choke Point: China” Findings Cited in Congressional Hearing

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Dr. Jennifer Turner, director of the China Environment Forum at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, presented findings from Choke Point: China to members of the U.S. China Economic and Security Review Commission in Washington, D.C., on January 26, 2012.

Choke Point: China — a joint project between the China Environment Forum and Circle of Blue that was released last year from February through May — explored the globally significant competition between water and energy in the world’s fastest-growing economy. The sweeping project received funding support from the Energy Foundation.

“The water issue is their biggest environmental challenge,” Turner said at the Congressional hearing last month. “This could be a really fruitful area for U.S.-China cooperation.”

Turner’s testimony highlighted the global implications of the water-energy “nexus,” given that 20 percent of China’s water is being use to produce coal-fired energy. “Where are they going to get that water?”

Dr. Turner’s testimony begins at 91:30 in the video.

The U.S. China Economic and Security Review Commission, according to its website, “was created by the United States Congress in October 2000 with the legislative mandate to monitor, investigate, and submit to Congress an annual report on the national security implications of the bilateral trade and economic relationship between the United States and the People’s Republic of China, and to provide recommendations, where appropriate, to Congress for legislative and administrative action.”