Senior fellow Charles Kenny writes his weekly column in BusinessWeek on the importance of China to fighting climate change.
From the article:
Air pollution in China is becoming a serious political concern for the country’s leaders. It is by far the biggest environmental issue in China, attracting considerably more public anger than does climate change. That should come as no surprise, since air pollution has killed millions there. As a result, China is embarking on a debate about controlling pollution, comparable to what the U.S. and Europe went through 30 years ago—a journey that led to pathbreaking legislation such as the Clean Air Act.
There’s a big difference with China’s situation—and it’s one the rest of us should welcome. While the U.S. and Europe dealt with local air pollution through power plant scrubbing technologies and catalytic converters, which don’t do much to slow CO2 emissions, China’s response involves many approaches that will reduce greenhouse gasses. The same is likely to be true for the rest of the developing world: As nations get richer, emissions from fuel will loom as the large public health issues. Cleaner air in Asia, Africa, and Latin America will be a win for planetwide sustainability, which is one reason for a little more hope when it comes to the global environment.
Read it here.
