I believe that the idea of a race does make sense to a certain extent. Of course, it is not a race in the sense that there is a start, a finish, a winner and a loser but the analogy still holds when comparing one nations progress over another. In this case China is doing a better job of using clean technology and green initiatives to expand the economy and create jobs. This is also done over a period of time (albeit long and indefinite) another characteristic of a race. Therefore China is winning the race over the US
I know people say that this isn't a state issue and states shouldn't be "competing" or trying to do better than other states when it comes to the environment, no matter how liberal or constructivist the world looks, the number one actor in international affairs is the state actor. International solutions to environmental issues will rely on sovereign nations to do "their part." The world will always be judged in how individual states fare in terms of progress and the environment and states will always be compared to other states on their performance. State governments are the one's actually enacting policies, even if it does happen to come from an international institution. So I believe it makes sense to make these comparisons between nations
I do buy the argument that technology and "green" manufacturing is the answer. How else are we going to figure out/solve these problems? It is not going to be using the present means. And we are a race of progress that is constantly moving forward. We are not going to find the answer by living simpler or in other words moving backwards. No, we move forward and the answer is also forward with "good" "green" and efficient technological innovations.