Good news, people: We’re not the most evil country in the world anymore! (Well, according to some radical environmentalists, anyway.)

Here’s why, from the BBC:

China has already overtaken the US as the world’s “biggest polluter”, a report to be published next month says.

The research suggests the country’s greenhouse gas emissions have been underestimated, and probably passed those of the US in 2006-2007.

Until now it has been generally believed that the US remains “Polluter Number One”.

This is fantastic: All of the radical environmentalists will now get off our back and get onto China’s back. They blamed our carbon emissions on the “evil” capitalists seeking to make personal gain at the expense of the planet — I’m sure they’ll apply the same logic to China, right?

Our figures for emissions growth are truly shocking. But there is no sense pointing a finger at the Chinese. They are trying to pull people out of poverty and they clearly need help. The only solution is for a massive transfer of technology and wealth from the West.

– Dr Max Auffhammer, Lead researcher

Wow — go back and read that whole quote again.

OK, now I’ll force you to read it once last time:

There is no sense pointing a finger at the Chinese. They are trying to pull people out of poverty and they clearly need help. The only solution is for a massive transfer of technology and wealth from the West.

Ladies and gentleman, you have now peered into the mind of a radical Marxist environmentalist. It’s hard to swallow, isn’t it?

It is absolutely mind-boggling that this man, Dr. Auffhammer, is totally willing to give the Chinese an unequivocal pass on their carbon emissions. He says there is no sense in “pointing a finger at the Chinese.” Why not? Are they not in control of their own emissions? Does he also agree that we shouldn’t point a finger at the US for their carbon emissions?

And then he claims China is only trying to “pull people out of poverty.” Really? And why, Dr. Auffhammer, do you think the US has such high carbon emissions? Are we also trying to pull people out of poverty, or are we simply letting the rich get richer at the expense of the planet?

Finally, Dr. Auffhammer’s “solution” is not only deplorable but flat-out scary: “A massive transfer of technology and wealth from the West.” This might mean that Dr. Auffhammer wants a group of bureaucrats to forcibly take your money (or, more likely, corporate money, which could very well be yours, too) and redistribute it to a Communist society thousands of miles away — but don’t worry, it’s for your own good.

What other action would produce a massive-enough amount of money? Do you think US businesses would be so willing to voluntarily donate their earnings to Chinese-based, Chinese-run firms, some of which might be global competitors? Sounds unlikely to me.

The worst part about all of this? Even though his name sounds European, and you may have assumed he resides in Europe — you’re wrong. Dr. Max Auffhammer lives right here in the USA, and works as a professor in California.