{"id":2619972,"date":"2026-06-27T14:21:01","date_gmt":"2026-06-27T18:21:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/hollywood-libs-pour-love-on-beijing-tout-china-as-first-petro-zero-economy-but-facts-show-different-story\/"},"modified":"2026-06-27T14:23:30","modified_gmt":"2026-06-27T18:23:30","slug":"hollywood-libs-pour-love-on-beijing-tout-china-as-first-petro-zero-economy-but-facts-show-different-story","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/hollywood-libs-pour-love-on-beijing-tout-china-as-first-petro-zero-economy-but-facts-show-different-story\/","title":{"rendered":"Hollywood Libs Pour Love on Beijing, Tout China as &#8216;First Petro-Zero Economy,&#8217; But Facts Show Different Story"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">34<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fhollywood-libs-pour-love-on-beijing-tout-china-as-first-petro-zero-economy-but-facts-show-different-story%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2619972&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The content discusses the tendency of Hollywood stars like Edward Norton and Ted Danson to praise China&#8217;s environmental policies, claiming that China is on track to becoming the world&#8217;s first petro-zero and electro-superpower.Norton expressed admiration for China&#8217;s move away from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/california-governor-signs-most-aggressive-package-of-green-laws\/\" title=\"California Governor Signs \u2018Most Aggressive\u2019 Package of Green Laws\">conventional energy sources<\/a>, asserting that the U.S. could have achieved the same.However, these assertions are misleading, as China remains the largest global emitter of carbon, heavily reliant on coal-over 25,000 terawatt-hours of its energy consumption in 2023 comes from coal, with renewables comprising only about 9%. In contrast, the U.S. primarily uses oil and natural gas for energy, with a smaller percentage from renewables. The piece criticizes Norton and Danson for falling for propaganda and emphasizes that China&#8217;s green energy claims are exaggerated, highlighting that the country&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >heavy coal dependence contradicts<\/a> its image as a green leader. It also points out California&#8217;s restrictive energy policies and questions the narrative of American exceptionalism concerning clean energy growth. the article dismisses the notion that China is a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/energy-secretary-touts-green-transition-amid-skyrocketing-energy-prices\/\" title=\"... Secretary Touts &quot;Green Transition&quot; Amid Skyrocketing ... Prices\">green energy leader<\/a> and underscores the ongoing global reliance on fossil fuels.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><br \/>\n<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC \"-\/\/W3C\/\/DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional\/\/EN\" \"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/TR\/REC-html40\/loose.dtd\"><br \/>\n<?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><html><body><\/p>\n<section> \t\t\t\t<script>console.log(\"ad slot (AC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC2)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC3)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC4)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (REP_0)\")<\/script><\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s hardly a new phenomenon, sadly, when Hollywood stars kiss up to China. Usually, they don\u2019t even try to bother letting facts get in the way.<\/p>\n<p>Ah, but that\u2019s where Edward Norton and Ted Danson went wrong. The \u201cFight Club\u201d and \u201cCheers\u201d star decided to simp for Beijing\u2019s energy policy on the latter\u2019s podcast this week, with the two libs declaring that China was on its way to being the \u201cfirst petro-zero economy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The problem there: Not only is China <em>not<\/em> there yet, it\u2019s the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/white-house-sending-john-podesta-negotiate-climate-change-beijing-china-goes-coal-binge\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">world\u2019s biggest carbon-emitter<\/a> and its largest user of coal, and it\u2019s only getting worse.<\/p>\n<p>But, you know, other than <em>that<\/em>\u2026<\/p>\n<p>Norton, apparently not terribly bright without imaginary friend Brad Pitt along with him, was the one who made the \u201cfirst petro-zero economy\u201d quote in a condemnation of \u201cAmerican exceptionalism,\u201d because apparently exceptionalism equals renewables, or something.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey are going to be the first electro-superpower,\u201d he said of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/high-profile-church-demolished-china-amid-communist-crackdown\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">China<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhich we could have been,\u201d Danson interjected. \u201cAnd now we\u2019re going to have to buy it from them when this [Donald Trump] goes away and we come to our senses. We won\u2019t have that industry like China does.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Norton agreed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd by the way, it\u2019s both sides of the aisle,\u201d Norton said. \u201cIn the state of California, we have now the most regressive policy toward residential solar, distributed solar collection, and storage\u2026 but even under Gavin Newsom.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Of course, this is because you can\u2019t build a millimeter of air in California without <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/californias-affordable-housing-woes-spiral-control-gavin-newsom\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">62 different permits<\/a>, and you basically can\u2019t change a lightbulb without changing a law, but one digresses. When the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/texas-surges-past-california-key-sign-business-influence\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">People\u2019s Republic of Sacramento<\/a> is being brought forth as an argument as to why centrally planned Chinese energy policy is kicking our butts, it\u2019s hard to take you seriously.<\/p>\n<p>As Norton went on to point out, \u201cThis is a state that should be energy independent\u2026 This is a state that should have gigawatts of residential distributed solar.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>To be fair, he gives both Florida and Texas \u2014 under Republican governors \u2014 credit for getting stuff done. But then he says that \u201cif you get to travel\u201d to other places \u2014 assumedly like China \u2014 you get to see that stuff can get done on green energy.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have this enduring narrative of American exceptionalism, like of, America\u2019s \u2018alpha,\u2019 of America\u2019s cultural superiority,\u201d a rambling Norton said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd the question is, and I don\u2019t think people fully grasp the degree to which we\u2019re going to ghettoize ourselves as an energy state, in terms of education, in terms of health. We\u2019re not anywhere near the top of what other people are experiencing. And if we embrace this idea of pride in regression, where is that going to take us? It\u2019s not going to take us into a place that we\u2019re happy about for our kids.\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Edward Norton rejects \u201cAmerican exceptionalism\u201d and praises China as more eco-friendly than the West:<\/p>\n<p>NORTON: China is on its way to being the first, petro-zero economy. They are going to be the first electro-superpower.<\/p>\n<p>TED DANSON: Which we could have been. And now we\u2019re\u2026 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/JGObkC3dwR\">pic.twitter.com\/JGObkC3dwR<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/BreitbartNews\/status\/2070581605463130279?\">June 26, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.x.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Wow, man. Wow. Deep. Also? False.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/ourworldindata.org\/grapher\/primary-energy-consumption-by-source?country=~CHN\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">China<\/a> is hands-down the world\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/biden-asks-asian-countries-to-release-oil-reserves-as-administration-scrambles-to-combat-high-gas-prices-report\/\" title=\"Biden Asks Asian Countries To Release Oil Reserves As Administration Scrambles To Combat High Gas Prices: REPORT\">largest energy consumer<\/a>, representing about a <a href=\"https:\/\/ember-energy.org\/data\/yearly-electricity-data\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">third of consumption<\/a> in 2023. According to Our World in Data, most of that \u2014 over 25,000 terawatt-hours of the 42,756 terawatt-hours it produces \u2014 comes from coal. Only 9 percent of the total comes from renewables of any sort, and that\u2019s including nuclear power.<\/p>\n<p>In the <a href=\"https:\/\/ourworldindata.org\/grapher\/primary-energy-consumption-by-source?country=~USA\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">United States<\/a>, yes, we have a slightly lower percentage of our power from renewables \u2014 8.2 percent. However, most of our energy doesn\u2019t come from coal but from cleaner petro-sources, with oil (9,949 terawatt-hours) and gas (9,022 terawatt-hours) being the top two sources. We consume less than one-tenth of China\u2019s coal \u2014 2,196 terawatt-hours.<\/p>\n<p>So, China is nowhere near becoming \u201cthe first electro-superpower.\u201d To the extent they might have more electric cars, those cars are powered by coal consumption. (China only burned up a little over 8,000 terawatt-hours of coal at the turn of the century.) The United States\u2019 reliance on every form of carbon power except natural gas, which is relatively clean, has been either steady or decreasing.<\/p>\n<p>However, \u201cif you get to travel\u201d and you get the Beijing propaganda treatment like Hollywood stars tend to get, you\u2019ll believe anything about the country\u2019s Sinofuturist fa\u00e7ade, including the fake news that they\u2019re some green-energy powerhouse. Maybe if Norton spent a little more time in China \u2014 like California, where he\u2019s intimately familiar with how central planning ruins everything, including renewable energy \u2014 he\u2019d realize this is a hoax and stop rah-rah-ing Beijing\u2019s energy policies.<\/p>\n<p>The difference is that the moment he said this in China, the Chinese government would have him <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/chinas-crackdown-democracy-continues-raid-pro-freedom-hong-kong-newspaper\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">locked up on some specious charges<\/a>. You can\u2019t make a pretend \u201cfirst electro-superpower\u201d omelette without breaking a few eggs, after all.<\/p>\n<div style=\"background-color: #f7f7f7; color: #171717; display: flex;font-size: 16px;font-weight: 600;line-height: 1.5;margin: 24px 0;padding: 18px 20px 18px 30px;text-align: left;\">\n<div style=\"align-self: stretch;border-left: 3px solid #171717;flex-shrink: 0;padding-left: 20px;\"><\/div>\n<p><a style=\"text-decoration: none;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/\">Choose The Western Journal as your preferred source on Google and never miss reporting that defends truth, protects freedom, and advances Western civilization<\/a><\/div>\n<p style=\"border: 1px solid #f5f5f5; padding: 16px;\">Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/advertise-us\/?wj_source=article\">Advertise Today<\/a>.<\/p>\n<div style=\"position: relative;\">\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-submit-correction inner-content\">\n<div class=\"correction-form\">\n<form style=\"display: none;\">\n<div class=\"sc-name-field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* Name<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"name\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"sc--field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* <\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<label>* Message<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t<textarea name=\"message\" required><\/textarea> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"required-message\" style=\"display: none; padding-bottom: 15px;\">* All fields are required.<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"submit\" value=\"Submit\" onclick=\"event.preventDefault(); firefly_sc();\"> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"firefly-sc-confirm\" style=\"display: none;\">Success!<\/div>\n<\/p><\/form>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p> \t\t<script> \t\t\tfunction firefly_sc() { \t\t\t\tif( typeof window.captchaPublicKey == typeof undefined ){ \t\t\t\t\tconsole.error('window.captchaPublicKey is not defined'); \t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\tgrecaptcha.execute( window.captchaPublicKey, { action: 'submit_correction' } ).then( function( token ) { \t\t\t\t\tvar opts = { \t\t\t\t\t\taction:    'firefly_sc_submit', \t\t\t\t\t\tname:      document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"name\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\t:     document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tmessage:   document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"message\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tpost_id:   firefly_post_id, \t\t\t\t\t\tcap_token: token \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tvar inputs = [ 'name', '', 'message' ];  \t\t\t\t\tfor( var i = 0; i < inputs.length; i++ ) if( ! 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Recently, Edward Norton and Ted Danson praised Beijing\u2019s energy plans on a podcast, claiming China is becoming the world\u2019s first petro-zero economy. In reality, China remains the top energy consumer and emitter, heavily reliant on coal. Norton criticized American policies and praised China&#8217;s green ambitions, but these claims are false-China&#8217;s energy use is still dominated by coal, not renewables. Despite travel impressions suggesting progress, China&#8217;s green credentials are exaggerated; their reliance on coal undermines their eco-friendly image. Norton\u2019s praise overlooks the truth: China isn\u2019t close to being a clean energy leader<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2619973,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/ben-net-2026-06-27T122618.323.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[4290,4501,4361,81826],"class_list":["post-2619972","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-beijing","tag-china","tag-hollywood","tag-petro-zero-economy"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/ben-net-2026-06-27T122618.323.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2619972","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2619972"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2619972\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2619976,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2619972\/revisions\/2619976"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2619973"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2619972"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2619972"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2619972"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}