Even if they do eventually start cleaning up their act (which I doubt) the price has already been paid. The world now has to bear far greater amounts of global pollution (not just in the air either) than it would have if politicians and activists in the US had just taken a more incremental (and less stifling) approach.
Their blind and foolish over aggression in environmental policies resulted in worse consequences for the planet. That is plain to see now. Of course hind sight is 20/20, but there were plenty of people warning that this would happen so full blame is on the table IMO.
Did you know that 16 ships create as much pollution as all the cars in the world. These are the ships that transport these goods and raw materials to and from China http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1229857/How-1...
Pollution has gotten so bad in china that it is seriously threatening the CCP's continued existence. They will eventually get their balls just like California did, because it's a life and death kind of situation. After living with shit air for the last two+ years! I'm convinced pansy solutions won't work.
Because of the Laws that we made: OK kids the good news first... you don't have asthma. The bad news ... Millions of Chinese people through no fault of their own (but rather their government) are dead or dying and the planet is half dead too. Global climate change was accelerated significantly and will kill many of your great grandchildren and perhaps end the human race eventually... Feel better? Are you sure we really did the "Responsible" thing here?
We can push a problem off to a foreign country (who handles it a lot worse than we would) and wash our hands of it but eventually things will be a lot worse for everyone.
>Pollution in California used to be bad, then the people got serious about it, and now California has clean air
We do? Must be my eyes then that make the air look smoggy every day.
Look! If people want to fill their houses, garages, yards and public storage lockers with crap from China/Walmart, they should have to look outside and see the effects of it. Putting if off on the Chinese was one of the most irresponsible things that could have been done.
Since this big shift in environmental policy that drove all the factories out of the the country, coupled with free trade agreements - US consumption of manufactured goods per capita has more than tripled. Why do we need all this crap? It is ruining the environment and we cannot even see the effects of it around us yet.
If people could look around them and see gross pollution their over consumption was causing, only then would they really cut back on buying all the crap.