Samir Kelekar wrote: > Indeed, China has created a revolution in manufacturing and has > effectively become the manufacturing power house of the world.
Date: Wed, 11 Mar 2009 00:02:59 -0400 From: "Bosco D'Mello" <[email protected]> Not surprising ...... China has overtaken the United States as the world's biggest producer of carbon dioxide, the chief greenhouse gas. http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2007/jun/19/china.usnews Mario responds: Bosco's source of information is correct, Samir's is not. China's growing production of CO2 is what makes the Kyoto Protocols so bogus, because they exempt China and India, which is working overtime to catch up with China, as well as most other less developed countries from the requirements. This is also why President Bush declined to sign the treaty, and most of its signatories are lagging behind their objectives, because this is like having a smoking section in the same space as a non-smoking section and pretending that the atmosphere is being controlled for smoke. But what should make Bosco even more surprised at the Chinese overtaking the US in CO2 production is that his comment, "Not surprising..." is responding to an unfortunate myth that the Chinese have "...effectively become the manufacturing power house of the world." Not quite, as the following source makes clear: http://www.iht.com/articles/2009/02/20/business/wbmake.php Excerpt: ... manufacturing in the United States is not dead or even dying. It is moving upscale, following the biggest profits and becoming more efficient, just as Henry Ford did when he created the assembly line to make the Model T car. The United States remains by far the world's leading manufacturer by value of goods produced. It hit a record $1.6 trillion in 2007 - nearly double the $811 billion of 1987. For every $1 of value produced in China factories, the United States generates $2.50. [end of excerpt] The reason that China, with India close behind, will soon produce more CO2 than the US is that they have little or no environmental controls of any kind, whereas the US does have some stringent controls for particulates, mostly for health reasons, and some US manufacturers are voluntarily moving towards controls of CO2 emissions when they build new plants, and some have apparently begun to purchase carbon credits. However, President Obama is running into strong opposition in his stated desire for more government intervention with cap and trade policies in the middle of a serious economic downturn, even from some of his supporters, and is unlikely to prevail in the short run.
