While this article points out areas where the United States can improve its approach to protecting the environment, it celebrates the ways America improved environmental standards over the past 30 years, and it also criticizes China for its lack of progress. Although the article criticized the EPA for its ineffectiveness and costliness as a program, it states that regulation of the environment is exactly what sets the United States apart from China.
Currently, China produces the most carbon dioxide globally and its pollution is not confined solely to its own borders. Watersheds in the U.S. are being contaminated by mercury emissions from power plants and particulate pollution has traveled as far as California where it inhibits rain and snow production. The spread of pollution across the world makes regulating the environment complicated because countries like China produce the most pollution but have the least regulation. As a result, countries deal with their own pollution and additional pollution from other, less environmentally-responsible countries. Is this just? Should there be global standards in place which prevent nations from producing elevated levels of carbon dioxide? Should this threshold be increased if there is a greater population (like in China)?
The article goes on to note that the United States does an adequate job of providing businesses with incentives to develop clean energy. Although there are incentives in place, I do not think that these incentives will solve our energy crisis or protect the environment to the extent that is necessary to combat global warming. When America transitions away from oil and coal, our carbon dioxide emissions will finally fall to an acceptable level.
Finally, the United States' success in protecting the environment is credited namely to our democratic system. Since China is ruled by an authoritarian system, people are not able to challenge the governmental system as easily as in the United States. The article points out that the Communist Party views citizen-led efforts as a challenge, and thus lawyers, writers, and NGOs are subject to political manipulation by the government. On the other hand, in the United States, lawyers, writers, and NGOs would be the entities most likely to push for reform. What do you think of this article's critique of the United States and China? In my opinion, it puts the United States on too high of a pedestal. But it does bring up some interesting points about the relationship between the government and environmental regulation. Is democracy the best way to promote environmental justice?
I found this article to offer quite an interesting perspective. On most issues concerning the environment, it seems that the United States always falls short. We have a huge amount of industry in our country and undoubtedly produce huge quantities of pollution and hazardous emissions. However, this article highlights that the U.S. is actually performing quite well in terms of being eco-friendly when compared to countries like China. I think this accomplishment is especially important in today's society because there are lots of concerns that China is going to become the next world super power, bypassing the U.S. So perhaps this is simply a ploy by the media to try to create some leverage between the two countries.
ReplyDeleteI would agree with The Domer in thinking the article puts America on somewhat of a pedestal. While it is okay to celebrate our victories in being environmentally friendly, it is also crucial to remember we still produce a great amount of pollution. As such, I think the suggestion of setting a world regulation on the amount of CO2 emission allowable is an excellent idea. Granted, countries with larger populations like China could have a slightly increased threshold. However, the whole concept behind establishing such regulations is to limit the amount of pollution generated. That being said, I think it is critical to approach this problem with the mindset that China's industrial practices must be reevaluated and changed as quickly as possible. It is not fair for other countries to take the hit from another nation's poor environmental practices.
I would agree that this article puts America on a pedestal. It seems too easy to compare the United States' current environmental practices and effects to China's, given the differences in our political system and population size. However, this article was written on Earth Day, so I understand the intent of the author and the value of pride in this country. That being said, it is hard to read this article and not beg the question of what we are doing wrong in this country, for example, the amount of food waste and agricultural waste we generate that is certainly not environmentally friendly. Any comparison to China should be taken with a grain of salt, in my opinion. However, the U.S. has made progress in regulation and I feel this is due to democracy that allows that voice of the people, concern and progress to come through much more so than other forms of government where people have little to no say in regulations or standards or the way business practices affect their everyday lives. It is important to be aware of the differences in environmental standards across countries so that we can constantly improve and advance.
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