Green China

[Rob_Hugo@PortNW]

This Monday’s All Things Considered (5/14/2007) responded to President Bush’s directive to the federal government to produce regulations cutting the nation’s gasoline use and emissions within the next decades with a story about how “Cutting greenhouse emissions may rest with China.” The United States does well to explore green design in architecture and automobiles, the report points out, and to place restrictions on heavy-emitting industries like steel, but as it sets out to do so, understanding the scope of the issue is important. Imported Chinese steel, for instance, is cheaper but far less “green,” as belching, industrializing China has yet to address its environmental issues in any serious manner. The problem, Dale Byrk of the Natural Resources Defense Council points out, is that “if we design our policies poorly, we could certainly increase imports from countries that don’t have pollution controls. The net effect would be no benefit to the environment, and we’re hurting our economy.” In the coming months and years, environmental groups and Congress are to consider a carbon tariff scheme that would prevent American companies from using the cheap, dirty steel and hopefully encourage Chinese manufacturers to clean up their act. But there is neither a guarantee that America’s tariffs will change China’s manufacturing processes, nor a timeline for creating these trade restrictions.

[Anonymous]

I am happy to hear steps are being taken in the right direction environmentally. Premier Wen Jiabao vowed on Saturday to tackle algae outbreaks that plague the country's freshwater lakes and urged government officials to enhance environmental management.
Since May, massive algae growth have been reported on Taihu Lake and Chaohu Lake in the east and Dianchi Lake in the southwest, endangering local tap water supplies.
The priority is to protect the lakes from further pollution and ensure the safety of drinking water, Wen said.He urged local officials to strengthen supervision and ban factories from discharging pollutants into the lakes, which causes the algae growth.He also urged more investment in combating algae pollution and called for stronger efforts to enact regulations protecting the three lakes.

[Anonymous]

The day after Wen's talk mentioned above, a new national standard raises drinking-water quality went into effect."In some of China's cities, the water supply has been contaminated, and residents are threatened with unsafe water," said Zhang Chengyu, a Ministry of Health official.The current standard, issued in 1985, was outdated and didn't protect citizens from health hazards, Zhang said.The new standard was prepared with reference to the World Health Organization's guidelines for drinking-water quality. It raises the quality of tap water in terms of organism and disinfection levels and will ensure uniformity in urban and rural areas.

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