China is, simply put, the world’s worst regulatory outlaw. Whether it’s worker safety (38,000 work-related deaths reported last year); weak banking and financial oversight; health and safety of food (remember infant formula?); lax enforcement of engineering and construction specifications (just Google “China bridge collapse” and see what comes up); or its past and present record on environmental regulation of coal-fire plant emissions, formaldehyde in plywood and now, CFC emissions that will set back our efforts to restore our ozone layer by a decade.
China is still the Wild West of unrestrained, self-serving commercial activity. It’s the most irresponsible actor in our global economic community, and its example ought to be a warning to all those who would dismantle our own protective regulatory system for the sake of “economic growth.”
10
Hold on, pardner. Your state built a town around a big fertilizer bomb (just search "West Fertilizer Company explosion"), because too many in Texas think regulations are for sissies. Harvey was the THIRD hundred-year-plus flood to hit Houston in a three year period, because zoning is anti-freedom so builders load up floodplains with new homes.
So, let's just say that China needs to tend to their issues, but there are certainly states here in the USA that also have a long way to go with putting protective regulatory systems ahead of rampant growth.
The USA is ahead of China, but we were ahead of the financial gains of reckless destruction of the environment for profit and product. Lest you feel I'm picking on Texas, I grew up in New Jersey, whose chemical industry rivaled Texas', with much less land, waterways and oceanfront to carry off or hide the pollution. Hence Superfund central when the Superfund was set up.
But if China is the global Wild West, we have a number of states in the USA where their elected officials are fighting a bitter war against regulations to do cleanups that the USA is in a far better position to address. They tend to be Republican-run. We need to fix that, by either getting Republicans out, or making it safe for responsible Republicans to run again, without being attacked by the likes of those who fund Lamar Smith (TX) or others like that.
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Enforcement is critical to a regulation’s success, and the consequences for even a single offender can be high. Offenders must be held accountable.
5
"There’s money to be made" can be the epitaph of every environmental disaster and every species that has gone extinct in modern times. However, Chinese corruption and rapacity is of another scale, from the decimation of the world's wildlife for 'medicine', gross overfishing, levelling of Asia's forests, burning coal for power, and chemical pollution of the air, land and water. This is the society and code of ethics which now dominates the world economy, and a poor prognosis for the future of life on earth.
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China needs to go after any producers of CFC-11 and work also to improve the affordability of the substitutes that everyone needs their manufacturers using. And yes, it would be better if they stamped out trade in endangered species.
But let's also keep in mind that they installed more renewable generation than we did the last year or two, they're trying (with some levels of success) to reduce coal consumption, and they've brought more than the entire US population's worth of people out of poverty, largely through use of coal - because it wasn't doable with renewables when they started.
We still burn coal for power and have leveled a lot of forests. Germany burns coal for power. China, with nearly 1.4 billion people, has reached the stage where they can start cleaning up - they proved to themselves that massive pollution kills Chinese just like it killed Americans and British with killer smogs. And they now have a big enough middle-class and upper-class that the government, to stay in power, has to clean things up.
2
What I’d like to know more about is the mechanics behind CFCs and how they are released into the atmosphere through the manufacturing process; inadvertently or just part of the process. I would think it’s part of the process of making open air foam product. And what is CFC 11? is it what I think is the banned product named R12? The one that was formally used in automobiles a few decades back, Until a new product called R143a was developed? It’s usually the best products that are the worst for you, i.e. asbestos for good hi temperature insulation, creosote for good bug proofing (And to keep horses from cribbing the barn), and in general,The number and the type of humans that affect the health of the planet! Sooo toxic!
1
I am not denying China's responsibility - but if the US sets an example of ignoring environmental protection it has a ripple effect throughout the world.
And just the observation that this article has only 2 comments thus far shows that this topic seems off the radar for many (while trump's antics keep us on our toes)
Thank you to the NYT for some splendid research!
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Alas, CFC-11 is an "illegal immigrant" that neither border guards nor tariffs can keep from grievously damaging our country.
Might it not make sense, then, for our government to cultivate cordial, productive relationships with other nations to help address such terrible problems?
Thanks to The Times for this necessary and revelatory reporting.
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China should be working to increase availability of HCFC-14b while they work on growing supplies of the newer, safer alternatives. Trying to catch small-scale manufacturers who feel pressed by cost to use the worst alternative is just a game of whack-a-mole otherwise.
While it's possible that the observed boost is due to China alone, it probably makes sense to continue looking elsewhere, too. There are a lot of developing nations, many facing increased demand for refrigeration, air-conditioning and insulation, and if CFC-11 is easy to produce in small scale producers in China, it's easy to do elsewhere, too.
We don't want to lose our ozone layer - UV is a dangerous radiation for people, plants, animals of all kinds.
3
Here we go again, no-one is reporting on the elephant in the room that has been playing with our atmosphere for decades. Spend time at www.geoengineeringwatch.org and you might begin to understand what's actually going on.
1
No, it's not an elephant.
"Science Officially Debunks Chemtrails, But the Conspiracy Will Likely Live On
A panel of 77 atmospheric scientists and geochemists weigh in on the controversial streaks in the sky"
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/science-officially-debunks-che...
"My month with chemtrails conspiracy theorists
Tammi Riedl and her partner believe ‘chemtrails’ are damaging our health. They prove conspiracies have gone mainstream – and aren’t just for the right wing
by Carey Dunne in Placer County, California"
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/may/22/california-conspirac...
6
In a world where the president of the United States is an amoral liar, and where his relatives and close associates benefit financially from the shortcomings of his character, and are "in bed" with others who lack principles, and any sense of decency, none of this is surprising. I just wonder which of his relatives is making a killing on this particular deal, as the president closes his eyes to reality, and turns them toward his favorite subject: himself.
4
Another rational reason to penalize China's trade, but this will be missed by Trump-Pence blanket tariffs that do nothing to change behavior of Chinese companies because 'less expensive' is the only concern to its customers.
3
Of course, our president will say nothing because he thinks climate change is a hoax.
Of course, our EPA secretary will say thing because he is too busy rolling back our own environmental protections, not to mention so very busy taking gifts from and then doing favors for industry lobbyists.
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Maybe we should impose tariffs on Chinese goods....oh, wait....
1
As Gomer used to say, Surprise, surprise! As if it would be anyplace else!
2
I find it hard to believe that the government of China doesn't know who the offenders are. Every movement of everyone is tracked by identity card and most things are paid for using phones. China is just slow to stop anything that makes money. If you like the color of the sky in these pictures, you can see the future of America if the EPA continues it's downward spiral toward the bottom.
5
I would be okay with a huge tariff on refrigerators and foam insulation from China; maybe even an outright ban.
Based on the article, it sounds like the Chinese government and environmentalists are being a bit slow to address the problem.
13
"I would be okay with a huge tariff on refrigerators and foam insulation from China"
This is a case for outright ban on questionable products from China, including ban on all the poorly made products from China, which is the case for just about everything Made in China/PRC
2
The Montreal protocol, which banned chlorofluorocarbons, was a significant landmark and the efforts against climate change. Together with the Clean Air Act of 1970 and requirements for improving gas mileage for American cars, these were early proof that laws CAN be passed for the good of the environment. Unfortunately, market forces and lack of regulation are now undermining the CFC ban, and the Trump administration wants to roll back or eliminate mileage requirements and other EPA rules.
What’s needed is tough international enforcement of existing laws, and a return to sanity in the US government regarding the environment. We worked hard to clean things up, once; surely we can find the political strength and will to do it again.
25
Ol' Scotty must be drooling by now.
2
Don't turn this into another anti-Trump story. This is about third world countries that do not regulate their businesses, pollute their lands, OUR water, and OUR air. Period. End of story. But, if you'd like to see more enforcement, you might right your congress representatives and demand that they cut 60% of the administrators that now consume 90% of the budgets that we tax payers are contributing too. At least in the US we can demand that our laws are enforced. Of course, that would demand that Congress actually do it's job instead of creating new laws that won't be followed while the whine that there isn't the money to enforce because Trump is such a mean jerk. Pitiful; your comments demonstrate you've not been to DC or ever worked with those involved with regulating anything; whether healthcare, the environment, or the use of old light bulbs.
Ol' Scotty is still drooling...
1