I have been very impressed by recent efforts by the Chinese government to curtail pollution and decrease their use of gas guzzling cars. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/08/13/china-may-tax-big-cars-as_n_118603.html China is now going to tax the hell out of cars with engines bigger than 4 liters, and increase taxes on those between 2 and 4 litres, while reducing taxes on smaller cars. In addition China is now imposing new GREEN laws upon businesses, including those that are foreign owned. This means that all those American companies that setup business in China to exploit cheap labor and avoid US environmental laws are now seeing their huge profit margins disappear as wages leap and new environmental standards take force in China. And the extreme steps that China had to take to ensure breathable air for the Olympics must've driven home to all Chinese just how polluted their air (not to mention water & land) has become. They had to remove 90% of the cars from the roads in Beijing, shutdown like 50% or more of their factories in Beijing and surrounding provinces for a period of a month or more. Can you imagine ANY of these steps being taken in America by our OIL MEN in charge? Especially the extra tax on gas guzzlers? So what's great about China is that they see the future and know they must take drastic action NOW to prevent their society & the rest of the planet from destruction. In addition the Communist one-party government can actually pass these new laws without having to listen to lobbyists from the corporations being affected. I sincerely hope other countries take note of how seriously China views these problems and acknowledge that such drastic steps are necessary NOW to prevent a catastrophe in the very near future. BRAVO CHINA! I hereby call for an END to the Boycott of China based upon these new measures that will benefit not only the Chinese, but America too as we wean ourselves off our dependence on outsourced labor. China was the LAST country I expected to lead the world in Environmental change. Let's pray they succeed in their efforts. Our lives and those of our children depend upon it.
It's never too late to get slapped and realize what needs to be done. I wonder if we need to have every highly-polluted country to host the olympics so that they'll get their environmental issues straightened out.
How many cars realistically have more than a 4L engine in China presently? I mean, most SUVs have around a 4L engine in North America anyway.
Woa Skip, Don't go gettin' all giddy yet. China's got to ease up on the peeps a lot more before they get my blessing.... Here's an excerpt from an article "China's human rights rating upgraded by U.S. State Dept". Christian science monitor http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0313/p03s05-usfp.html ...Other rights advocates cite the forcible removal of hundreds of Chinese families to accommodate Olympics projects, as well as the removal of citizens from Beijing who have been deemed nuisances or worse as the Olympics approached. Amnesty International USA says the systematic imprisonment of people objecting to the Olympics over the demolition of houses, for example, is just one reason the organization believes human rights conditions in China are "deteriorating" and not improving. The State Department's adjustment of China's status in its report "is actually encouraging the Chinese authorities to continue the practices they are undertaking," says T. Kumar, advocacy director for Asia and the Pacific for Amnesty International USA in Washington. He calls the timing of the report "troubling," noting that President Bush plans to visit China to attend the summer Games. "We wonder if there is a link," he says. Mr. Kumar calls China's human rights abuses "staggering," citing two practices that he says stand out: the detention of hundreds of thousands of people, including political activists, for "reeducation" programs, or what he says are forced labor camps; and the liberal use of the death penalty in China – including for political prisoners – which makes China the site of 8 of every 10 government-administered executions carried out in the world.
Skip is only worried about Global Warming right now Zombie. They are smart enough to take advantage of the now booming carbon offset market, by taxings and restricting their citizens use of vehicles they have offset credits to sell.
China is highly polluted at this point in time. Due mainly to the huge demand of Walmart customers and the factories that turn out what they buy. Money came first, health second. Same old story. Taiwan is also very trashed for the same reasons. These people are in for a terrible future of health problems related to this industrial revolution, i.e. sweatshop mentality. Automotive pollution is just beginning. I'm betting they will someday lead the world in electric car usage. Out of neccessity. x