US Energy Secretary Rick Perry has said he hopes China will step forward to be a “real leader” on climate issues, while rejecting criticism that America is backing down.
President Donald Trump’s decision last week to pull the US out of the Paris climate agreement has sparked speculation that he is creating a leadership void that China could fill.
Mr Perry, in Tokyo en route to a meeting of energy ministers in Beijing, said: “I hope China will step in and attempt to take the mantle away. It would be a good challenge for them.”
But he prefaced that remark by saying “the United States is not backing down from its role as a leader in cleaning up the climate”.
Earlier, Mr Perry told his Japanese counterpart Hiroshige Seko that the US commitment to the environment is unchanged, according to Kazushige Tanaka, a Japanese industry ministry official who was at their meeting.
Mr Perry said the United States, which he said has led the effort in tackling carbon reduction and clean coal technology, will continue to be a leader in developing clean energy and technology.
He agreed with Mr Seko on Japan-US co-operation in clean energy and the environment, as well as nuclear energy and the clean-up of the Fukushima nuclear power plant, which was damaged by a 2011 earthquake and tsunami.
Mr Perry said: “f you’re a millennial, and you care about the environment of where you live locally and of the world, then you need to be for nuclear energy.
“Zero emissions.”
He said laboratories overseen by the US Energy Department are researching new ways to harness nuclear power, from small modular reactors to fusion.
Mr Perry visited the Fukushima nuclear complex on Sunday and offered US help in decommissioning the plant, which is expected to take decades.
He said: “We offer continued support, expertise, companies that have history of dealing with clean-ups and technology available, as well as the Department of Energy.”
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