“’I saw so many buildings being constructed throughout the region and thought, if all those buildings installed air conditioners, it would seriously add to global warming,’ Ichigaya said.”
Sounds great until you get to the nuttery.
Sounds great until you get to the nuttery.
Having lived in Japan and traveled to many other countries I can tell you it is not because this guy is a moron. Japan in particular simply takes AP/Reuters stories and reprints them in Japanese. While many Americans believe in global warming you can easily find people who don't. Not only that, but you can ask people who both believe and disbelieve and they will each be able to tell you that there is a controversy about global warming. By contrast, it would be more difficult to find Japanese who even know there is any controversy.
Many issues have American politics injected into them here and then when they are exported oversees the political aspect does not translate. As such, generally the liberal side gets promulgated and then the liberals do a one over and use international consensus as further proof of their legitimacy.