Explainer: Delving into America's debt crisis
Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy speaks to the press after a high-profile debt ceiling meeting in Washington, D.C., the United States, May 9, 2023. (Photo by Aaron Schwartz/Xinhua)
  Answers to the following four questions may provide some insight for other countries around the world into how to avoid falling victim to the spillover effects of the U.S. debt crisis.
  BEIJING, June 2 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. Congress's passage of the debt ceiling bill late Thursday, just days before a looming default deadline, might have come as a respite for global investors.
  But as the two parties of the United States routinely engage in political showdowns over the debt ceiling, the periodic U.S. debt crisis has become a "gray rhino" threatening global economic and financial security.
  Answers to the following four questions may provide some insight for other countries around the world into how to avoid falling victim to the spillover effects of the U.S. debt crisis.
  Q1: Why does America repeatedly raise the debt ceiling?
  The U.S. government has modified its debt ceiling 103 times since 1945. Federal debt has soared from 3.2 trillion U.S. dollars in 1990 to over 31.4 trillion this year, accounting for more than 120 percent of its annual gross domestic product (GDP), according to the U.S. Treasury Department.
  The debt ceiling, or the U.S. Treasury Department's "credit limit," is the maximum amount of debt set by the U.S. Congress for the federal government to fulfill payment obligations.
  When created in 1917, the debt ceiling was designed to keep a regular check on government spending and control debt growth, but in recent years, it has become more of a routine topic in partisan fights between Democrats and Republicans.
  With the partisan divide widening in recent years, a debt ceiling drama has repeatedly been staged in Washington.
  Lawmakers from different parties use last-minute negotiations to push for more political gains, b产发展,生活富裕,生态良好"的浑然一体.
  中国环境报:建设人与自然和谐共生的现代化,还需要在什么方向发力?
  张璇孟:要实现人与自然和谐共生的现代化,其实就是党的二十大报告中所说的:"必须牢固树立和践行绿水青山就是金山银山的理念,站在人与自然和谐共生的高度谋划发展."理念是行动的前提,但是光有理念不够,还要付诸实践.在实践中,生态良好是基础,生产发展是路径,生活富裕是目标,三者要共同推进,相互融合.
  当前,建设人与自然和谐共生的现代化还面临一些压力和挑战.比如,生态价值观有待进一步树立,新型环境污染问题亟待破解,产业结构绿色化转型需要进一步加深,生态环境治理能力有待提升等.建设人与自然和谐共生的现代化,未来还需要在尊重自然,顺应自然,保护自然的基础上,协同推进降碳,减污,扩绿,增长,推动生态优先,节约集约,绿色低碳发展.
  具体而言,我认为有两方面最为重要.一方面,进一步完善生态文明制度体系,把生态文明理念深度融入经济社会的政策,降低转型的制度成本,提高适应性和风险管理.另一方面,加快构建多主体联动的"政府有为,企业有责,市场有效,社会有序"的大生态保护体系.建设人与自然和谐共生的现代化是一场全民行动,政府,企业,公众一个都不能少.要努力形成政府机制,市场机制和社会机制既相互协作又相互制衡的生态治理结构,形成合力.