In one of the more double-take inducing headlines I've seen in a while, the head of state for the world's biggest carbon polluter told the rich nations of the world that they must change their unsustainable lifestyles.

"Developed countries shoulder the duty and responsibility to tackle climate change and should alter their unsustainable lifestyle," said Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, speaking at the beginning of a meeting to call for a rapid expansion in the exportation of clean energy technologies from the developed world to countries like China.

I am a fan of helping to pay the costs of climate change for poorer countries—which do face disproportionate burdens from global warming while being responsible for very little of the cause—through improved infrastructure and energy-efficient technologies. I'm also of the opinion that Americans and others in the developed world should attempt to lessen the demands that they place on the planet's finite resources with their current lifestyles.

But neither of these causes is advanced by a combative attitude, especially from a country that produces more carbon than anywhere else in the world (even if it also does have the largest population and only recently surpassed the U.S. in emissions), in addition to a tarnished record on the environment. Mutually beneficial arrangements will prove a far more effective tool than lopsided mandates.