The air in Chico is lousy today. Here are my musings beginning with two quotations from an AP news story. "The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates that on certain days nearly 25 percent of the particulate matter in the skies above Los Angeles can be traced to China." "Coal-fired power plants supply two-thirds of China's energy and are its biggest source of air pollution. Already the world's largest producer and consumer of coal, China on average builds a new coal-fired power plant every week." http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory?id=2250133 Globalization has been a major factor in reducing the domestic production of pollution. Some of this pollution is localized, but not all. China is probably justified is trying to catch up with the developed countries. China is also emulating the developed countries is making sure that the lion's share of growth goes to the rich. But the developed countries, especially the United States, has to finally realize that the resources of the earth are finite and that all people are connected. Nationalistic policies are self-defeating. Of course, I feel rather silly worrying about this kind of pollution with the horrendous pollution (and destruction) going on in the Middle East. The oil spill in Lebanon is supposed to be greater than the Exxon Valdez.
-- Michael Perelman Economics Department California State University Chico, CA 95929 Tel. 530-898-5321 E-Mail michael at ecst.csuchico.edu
