China has actually become quite concerned about the environmental effects of their energy use. Not global warming so much as pollution, but the effect is the same: they're investing heavily in alternative and nuclear energy. Independence from fuel suppliers, becoming the #1 manufacturer of solar arrays and the fact that alternatives are rapidly becoming cheaper are also factors.
Maybe some of the now-emerging countries skip the oil/gas/coal phase entirely and go directly to renewables, in the same way that Africa skipped the landline and the traditional banking in favour of mobile phones and apps.
Alternative and nuclear energy use is still energy use. It may not create the same pollution as coal or oil, but that doesn't affect the arguments from the article.
Growth of energy use is unsustainable, and that may mean economic growth is unsustainable.
Same reason why China decided to completely ignore the environmental effects, if they had fewer energy sources, their growth wouldn't be as gigantic.
It's quite interesting what will happen with India and with countries of the African continent. When they start enjoying their increased standards of living, they might want to use more energy, currently they are just a tiny speck of the world energy use.