I am much a critic that so much is made overseas instead of here in the U.S. To further add to my disdain on foreign exports,as of late, there has been increased news of counterfeit products, including conterfeit medicine. Plus, with Chinese manufacturers still making toys out of lead... and not labeling that their possibly inferior products are made in China I see that China's success is causing even more destruction to our environment. I see that by them being a major industrial power they have set off an imbalance of much more than trade. In fact, a NY Times article points out that they are now choking on their own success.
"Much of the particulate pollution over Los Angeles originates in China! Sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides spewed by China’s coal-fired power plants fall as acid rain on Seoul, South Korea, and Tokyo. Pollution has made cancer China’s leading cause of death, the Ministry of Health says. Chinese cities often seem wrapped in a toxic gray shroud. Only 1 percent of the country’s 560 million city dwellers breathe air considered safe by the European Union. "
Even as all this occurs, foreign investment continues to rise as multinational corporations build more factories in China.
But really they are just doing what other developed countries did. American and Britain, polluted their way to the top then the upper class demanded safe water and blue skies when it got to be too much.
So how bad is China? The NYT reports, "The level of such particulates is measured in micrograms per cubic meter of air. The European Union stipulates that any reading above 40 micrograms is unsafe. The United States allows 50. In 2006, Beijing’s average PM 10 level was 141, according to the Chinese National Bureau of Statistics. Only Cairo, among world capitals, had worse air quality as measured by particulates, according to the World Bank." For more more go here: As China Roars, Pollution Reaches Deadly Extremes, NYT Times Aug. 26th By JOSEPH KAHN and JIM YARDLEY
