China’s Environmental Crisis
The New York Times recently started a very important series of articles on China’s “epic pollution crisis.” Although the rhetoric might appear a bit alarmist there is no doubt that the Chinese state needs to implement immediate measures to curtail the adverse effects of their developmental explosion. It is an issue that will soon affect the whole planet. One of the most unnerving announcements is the International Energy Agency’s finding that China is surpassing America in emissions, about ten years ahead of schedule. Such a staggering rise in pollution levels are only going to be compounded as the Chinese state grapples with the recent development upsurge in the interior of the country – most provincial metropolises have renewed investment in and expansion of their urban infrastructure in an attempt to catch up with boom cities like Shanghai, Tianjin, Beijing, and Guangzhou. Everyone is looking to cash in while low construction costs persist and environmental regulations go unenforced. Moreover, many construction projects look to only cash in on short-term payoffs and will have to be eventually replaced. It is detrimental to China’s future that pollution-adjusted GDP growth rates factor into urban planning and national legislation. This economic juggernaut must be transformed in the coming decade. The rest of the world can no longer ignore how 1.3 billion people chose to live on this side of the planet. As easy as it is to point the finger at the Chinese state, the US government is just as guilty for promoting and investing in the industrial explosion across China’s eastern seaboard. We have done nothing to set new criterion for clean energy and waste management and can thank our own consumptive practices for the current mess. The US government has consistently ignored the situation and now the Chinese feel just as entitled to engage in similar excesses. The whole country is going to have to swallow a bitter pill sooner rather than later. The Chinese state must start setting new and innovative precedents for urban living as the country takes up a specious banner of modernity and progress.
Link: Choking on Growth – As China Roars, Pollution Reaches Deadly Extremes