Pollution is a big problem in China since they now have become the world's manufacturer. It is blamed for raising the birth defect rate 40% just since 2001 (http://www.soschildrensvillages.org.uk/charity-news/pollution-china-defects-.htm). There was major concern over air pollution and how the athletes would perform under those conditions.
According to China Daily, http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2009-02/24/content_7508856.htm, a government official is quoted as saying:"'The general situation of environmental pollution does not allow us to be
optimistic,' Zhang told a national meeting on pollution control in Shanghai.
'The fundamental way to overcome this is to continue to press enterprises to
reduce pollution emission through technology and management,' he said."
90% of China's lakes and underground water is polluted, according to the same article.
Because China's pollution affects the world, do you think that China should be pressured to fix its pollution problems? If so, who pressures China to do this? U.S.? U.N.? How should China pay for these fixes? Taxes on manufacturers? Foreign companies pay for it?
Minimum 150 words, due Friday, 2/27.
27 comments:
China is by far the largest country in the world when it comes to population. They withhold about 1.5 billion people, which is about 1/5 of the world's population, and four or five times larger than the U.S population. Even though they have five times more people than us, China's physical size is about the same size as the U.S. This means that the more people that are in a dense area, the more pollution there is going to be. I agree that China needs to take many precautions about pollution. “Lakes, rivers and the air in many places in China are still polluted, some seriously, in spite of continuous efforts to control pollution”, a Chinese environmental official said about the pollution in China. But even though they want to keep the country as clean as possible, I believe that the U.S is pressuring them to keep it clean, because the U.S has decided to go green in everything possible. The U.S and China have big influences on each other, and this is why the Chinese have been striving to keep their nation clean.
Annie Lazor
1st hr
Cheyenne Stone- First hour
I think that China should be pressured to fix it’s pollution problem. Other people from other countries visit and work in the country, and it is not fair to them to have to deal with the pollution. Although economy is bad, I think it would be smart of them to put a tax on what they export. A lot of countries including the U.S. get many many goods from China, and we basically depend on them. Money from a tax on all of these many products would help get the money to fix this problem. I think that the U.N. should pressure China to do make this fix, because I don’t think that just one country pressuring China is going to make it any better. A lot of pressure to fix the problem should probably of come from the athletes at the 2008 olympics being at some of a risk from all of the pollution in China. Since the pollution is affecting the water supply, that could be one way the U.N. could pressure China to make the fix. A healthy water supply is almost vital for a country to continue transportation and healthy people in the country.
I do think that China should be pressured to fix its pollution problems. I think so because not only does this pollution problem affect the rest of the world but it affects them in a much larger way. This pollution problem is causing major problems in China such as higher birth defect rates. They should really be pressured to fix the pollution problem for the sake of the people within the country. I think that the U.S should pressure China into fixing the pollution problem. I think this because the U.S trades with China the most and the relationship would most likely be better giving that they loaned the U.S 3 trillion dollars. China should pay for the fixes but with some aid from the U.S and U.N. The way China could pay for it is by raising the taxes in the country and by raising the taxes for manufacturers.
Meredith Starkman
1st hour
I do think that china should be pressured into fixing its pollution problems. Their pollution is no longer affecting just their own nation, but the entire world. Although I feel as if our country should take part in encouraging them to fix this issue, I ultimately believe it is the U.N.’s responsibility. I also think that China’s people should not be paying for the majority of the problem. The manufacturers that have caused so much of the damage to the environment should be the ones paying to fix it. Companies should also be trying to find more fuel-efficient and eco friendly ways of conducting business and making their products. One thing I am definitely apposed to though, is having foreign companies pay for China’s pollution. Going back to what I said earlier, the intensity of pollution has now become everyone’s problem; nevertheless, if China is the main producer of the pollution they should be the ones to find a solution.
Yes, I believe China should be pressured to fix its pollution problem. The reason I believe this is because China is one of the leading manufacturer’s in the world, meaning China should be a head in technology by reducing their carbon footprint and using greener products. I think that both the U.S. and the U.N. should get involved. The U.S. should get involved by not buying made in China products since they could have large amounts of chemicals in them such as lead, that could be deadly for consumers. The U.N. should get involved by reminding China of the Kyoto Protocol they signed in May of 1998. Also by showing China that pollution has only gotten worst since signing the document. China should have this fixed and could pay for it all by taxing on all companies including foreign that are polluting the air and dumping garbage into China’s water ways. That is why I believe China should be pressured to fix their pollution problem and how they can pay for this.
Annie Linden
1st hour
Yes i think that China should fix its pollution problems. The U.S. and the U.N. should both help China out with fixing their problem. The pollution is causing many problems in this environment. It is destroying China's wildlife. If they continue to pollute their water they may not have any water to drink anymore. Because of people and companies polluting the kids are being born with defects. I think that manufacturers should pay to fix these problems. They help cause they problem so they should be part of the solution. The pollution has caused many problems. It almost cause some of the athletes not to compete in the olympics. A lot of smog is forming above the city. This isn't good for the peoples health. They U.S. and U.N. should join together and go help China with their pollution problem. They should set up education centers to educate China's population about what is going on.
Jordan Elliott
1st hour
Allison Levine
2nd hour
China should be pressured to fix its pollution problems because with the amount of pollution they’re emitting into the atmosphere, it’s no longer just China’s problem; it has become the world’s problem. But I heard President Obama state in his address to congress (on February 24,), “It is China that has launched the largest effort in history to make their economy energy-efficient.” I think the United States has been pressuring China because we’re a country that bullies other countries and we get in their business- we tell people what to do. Maybe we should lay off of China for a bit. They’ve at least been trying and we don’t want to jeopardize our relationship with China. If the factories and manufacturers continue releasing the same amount of pollution, they should be taxed for it. If they are making progress, and decreasing the amount being released, then I don’t think they need to tax- or tax as high as they did when the pollution percentage was high. I think foreign companies should pay for some of the cost because it’s not just China causing the pollution and it can’t hurt to assist another country for something that can help our Earth for future generations.
Keshauntae Brown
I believe that China should have fix these this problems. I believe this because they want to be the world’s biggest manufactures, they should have pay the price. I think that both the US and the UN should push China to fix the problem. To pay of this fixes they should take tax money from the citizens, just like the US does. I don’t think it would be fair fro the other countries to have to help pay fro this because it is in China, its China’s problem. So why should we have to come out of money to fix some other country problems. I feel that if one person has a big problem that they shouldn’t just rely on other people to give them money to fix this problem. Maybe if there wasn’t money needed in this situation that I would feel way different. I would just say it would be ok to help them with the pollution problem.
I think that China should definitely be pressured to stop its pollution problems. The atmosphere is getting worse and China’s pollution is just adding to bad affects on the globe, like warming and holes in the ozone. I think this pressure to stop polluting should come from everyone because the entire world is affected by this, not just China. Their cities may have the worst conditions but other countries are affected too. Smog can cause serious damage and illnesses to people and dirty water can also cause diseases if people drink it or swim in it. I think China should pay for a solution by themselves without help from foreign countries. They got themselves into this mess and should not need to rely on other countries to get themselves out. Taxes on workers and manufacturers might cause a depression or revolts against the government, but it may be the only solution at this point. Unless the government can come up with the money on its own and not waste it on pointless goods and projects, then China may never be able to fix the pollution.
Maria Schweiss 2nd hour
I think that China should be pressured to fix its pollution problems not only because it is affecting everyone else but because most other countries are also becoming green and trying to cut down their pollution. When the Olympics came to Beijing, China had to cut back their pollution by stopping manufacturing for a while and other things. Something like this could be done again but it wouldn’t have to be so drastic. I think that since many other countries are becoming green that it could be a combined effort to pressure china to become more green and cut back on their pollution. Since the pollution in china is a world issue it should be a world issue to pressure china to cut back on their pollution. If only one country pressures them it won’t have as big of an affect as many countries pressuring them. China should pay for these fixes by taxing the manufacturers because the manufacturing companies are the main cause to this pollution problem.
China is undergoing a huge pollution problem, and should defiantly be fixed right away. I believe that the United States should pressure China to fix their pollution problem right away because there pollution is affecting the billions of people on the other side of the world as well as the eastern hemisphere. The United States should also help because we also get a lot of goods from china, most things here in America underneath items read “made in china”. If the United States wants to continue importing goods from China they might want to help them along the way. China’s pollution problem is horrible and we should help them before the pollution gets too out of hand. For China to work to fix the problems so people can hold significant events there without the worry of athletes having trouble breathing, China should have the manufacturing companies pay for it. If those companies are making so many items selling them they have money to help stop the pollution that their mostly causing.
Heather Robinson
2nd hr
Because China’s population affects the entire world, I do believe that they should be pressured to correct their population problem. Each country should be responsible for monitoring it’s own population growth and the affects on it’s economy, as well as the global economy. I think it would be wrong for one country exclusively to put pressure on China to correct this problem because in doing so their international relations would suffer as a result. the U.N. is an organization made up of representatives from a number of countries who all work together for the common good of the free world. As a result, if the United Nations were to pressure China to address their population problem, it would be the combined opinion of a greater number of countries and therefor have a more significant impact. When you consider the number of products that the U.S. and other countries import from China each year perhaps the money China would need to fix this problem could be generated from the revenues they collect from foreign countries on their exports. This would however, need to be monitored by a united organization to make sure that their prices did not increase to absorb their costs. Also, perhaps better education regarding birth control would help the Chinese people to understand better the impact that overpopulation has on their own economy as well as the world economy.
By Damien Dorre
Although there are many countries around the world that need help with various problems including pollutions I think the pollution problem in China is the most urgent. Over the last decade China has stepped on to the world stage. China’s economy is not only important to it but to the rest of the world as well. For that reason there has to be pressure on China to fix the problem. This can’t come from the U.S. because we are no longer as strong or as powerful as we used to be and our economy is the lowest it’s been since the depression and therefore the Chinese government may not take us alone serious and they may not make the required changes. However if the U.N. puts pressure on them they may fell a stronger need to make the worsening problem better. Also this is the entire world’s problem not just A U.S. problem and therefore it is more appropriate for the U.N to act on this issue opposed to the U.S. alone.
In terms of paying for these fixes I think the money should come from more taxes on manufacturers. It is not a good idea to take the money from foreign companies because they are important to the economy and may upset those people. On the other hand China has a great wealth of manufacturers and taxes coming strait form them could easily provide enough money to fund these changes. In this way the economy keeps growing and powering the world and the problem should slowly melt away.
Andrew Gordner
Blog 6 Brad Benghiat 2nd Hour
I absolutely think that China should feel pressured to fix issues involving their major contribution to pollution, particularly because it is now affecting the entire world. I believe that it should be more the U.N.’s responsibility to pressure China to solve it’s pollution issues. This is because the U.N. deals with problems that affect more than one nation. The Unites States should not be the one to have to pressure China to change, because it is not their responsibility to protect the world while we have our own issues to deal with. The U.N. is an organization specifically designed for purposes like these, and I think this is a major issue that they need to crack down on. China has the money to fix these issues, and by investing in the right projects, ones that will actual contribute toward helping, China can fix these issues without taxing or borrowing money from foreign nations. According to one of the articles, China invested in over 2,700 projects to prevent pollution, which in my opinion seems like too much, and means that they may be investing large amounts of money in the wrong projects.
Yes, I do think that China should be pressured to reduce a lot of their pollution emissions. If their emissions only affected their own country, I think that would be more of their problem, but since all of this pollution is not only affecting Chinas water use, cropping and agriculture resources but the pollution and CO2 emissions affect the whole world. So many children are being born with many birth defects and water is becoming scarce because the residents of some of the big lakes are too infected with algae and pollution there is no way you could drink out of it, or do any sort of growing on that surrounding land. As much as I think we should pressure China to be “greener” we are have no right to do this because we emit so much pollution into the atmosphere it would be hypocritical. We can’t try to tell another countries to do something better, when we can’t even control our own emissions. I think the U.N should do it because they are doing more than we are to reduce pollution, and by them telling China to do this, they would be setting a good example for the rest of the world. I think China should start by fixing the 1,831 treatment projects that were not finished when they started their project. They should get this money from taxes, and stop loaning all the money the government is acquiring from their economy, and use it towards the treatment projects that are not currently operating.
Since China is producing a lot of pollution through their factories, and because it is affecting everyone worldwide, I do think that China should be pressured into fixing there pollution problems. This is because manufacturing in China is only increasing and so many businesses are moving there. So if they don’t find a solution to the pollution problem now, it will only grow exponentially. I think the UN should pressure China so it won’t just be the U.S, and so that there will be more force on them than just one country. Also if the U.S. pressures alone then it may cause us to gain an enemy, which would be a major problem, because a lot of our manufactured goods come from China. To pay for this, I think the China should gather taxes from manufacturers rather than going into debt with other countries. I think this because if the manufacturers are the ones creating the pollution than they should pay for the issues they are causing. Also if China depends on foreign companies it may cause them to go into further debt and if they are in debt then may want to urge the U.S. to pay our debts back immediately, which would be very difficult for us, and could cause us to go into a worse recession.
Harshita Pinnamaneni
2nd Hour
China should start by informing their citizens about what happening and try to get them to start being part of fixing this. America should also pressure them to fix this. One thing we should is tell them if they keep this up we will not buy as much products as we do today. China is not just hurting its self, it’s also contributing to global warming which effects all of us. We should also be concerned about how we Americans are contributing to global warming, because we pretty much do the same thing they are doing. We should try to team up with China to help find ways to help us save the environment. We should start by reducing the carbon dioxide. We put lots of carbon dioxide shipping the materials from China to America. China and America should also start both on trying to reduce the use of cars by doing simple things like car pulling.
MUHANNAD AL-BAKKOUR
1ST HOUR
China should definitely be pressured by the entire world to change their ways. This will affect the world sooner than later. They are killing fish, and hurting the ozone and this affects them and the world. They should get their money by taxing the manufactures. This will give them enough money because they make most of the world’s things. They could also put a tax on exports this would help most of the world’s economy and give them enough money to fix their major problems. If the USA would cut there imports to us unless they taxed it, it would force them to tax it because we are a major buyer of their products. Since we can’t do that we should pressure the UN to do it. It would better the world for everyone and it might make for a better living environment in china as well as the world.
After reading the articles, I believe that China should definitely be pressured into fixing its pollution problems. The pollution has greatly affected the whole world for too long. The pollution is causing a hole in the ozone that is causing the direct sunlight to melt the ice caps. Not too long from now, many countries and states will be completely underwater. The ice caps aren’t only affect of the pollution. The Olympics this year took place in China. Many of the athletes complained about the pollution because they wanted to perform to their full potential. For this reason I believe that both the United States and the United Nations should pressure China to fix this problem. Seeing as this China’s problem I believe that it should pay for most of the fixes in this situation, however foreign companies should pay some of the fixes. China, like many other nations, receives imports from foreigners in order to manufacture goods. The nations that are supplying China with goods are partially responsible because they “feed” the factories that toys, cars and many other things are made.
I think that China most definitely should be persuaded by the world to clean up their areas, and stop pollution in their large country. The pollution in their country could severely harm their people and animals. China has a difficult government, so it would be hard to decide who should pressure China into fixing their pollution problem. I think that probably the best people to do this would be the U.N. The United States pressuring China would be a bad idea because we already owe China an insane amount of money, and I’m sure they are not very happy with us because of it, and we do not want to get into a fight with China, because China is pretty powerful right now, and our economy is bad enough as it is without trouble from China. China can’t do as much damage to the U.N as it could to the U.S, because of all of the countries involved. Perhaps a tax on countries coming into the country to run companies would be a good idea. This would be good for China, to pay for pollution, and it would also be good for the United States, because it might discourage outsourcing jobs, so companies would stay in the country, and maybe our economy would advance. Maybe manufacturers could get a tax too, as long as it wasn’t too much, because then China might not be as thrilled with the idea, and the economy would start crumbling, and the money would be used to repair the economy and not the pollution.
I believe that the U.N should pressure China in making better choices for the environment. I think that the U.N should do this because considering that china is in the top 3 contributors to climate change, it could affect things like shorter lifespan because of poor air quality, and it could affect the animals/different organisms living on earth different then us. China should start coming up with cheep ways to cut down on climate change (I.E fuel efficient cars, solar power etc). Some ways China could pay for this is upping taxes, and limiting foreign trade. They should start making like recycling programs, and using greener things, and help everyone cut down on their carbon footprint. Overall, I think China should start thinking of ways for becoming greener, and helping our environment.
Matthew Brodley
2nd Hour
I think that China should deal with the pollution problem because with the pollution it might be causing factory and job workers to become sick and cant work. If they cant work and make the things that they ship to the US then I think that the US is pressuring them the most. China should pay by having less plants around that cause some of the pollution, also they should pay to clean up all their lakes and underground water so they can use boats and things to ship or do what they have to do. Also they should make more smart cars for the enviroment. Also the owner of the plants could help pay to clean up the lakes and people of china could even help themselves to help them save money and get rid the pollution problem. I think that it wont be alot of money to help fix the pollution problem.
Adam Pauley
1st hour
mark gastineau
2nd h
I think that we sould pressure china to fix their pollutions problem. By we I mean I think the entire world should. I think that everyone sould take care of the planet that we live on,, and that we sould not just worry about how oneself takes care of the world, but as a group effort to keep our envioronment clean. I think that not just china sould pay for the cleaning of their pollution, it was partly the fault of some of the western counties and businesses that put china in this situation. I beilve that china sould take the main role in cleaning up their environment, but also forgien countries and business need to help china in this process. It would be a difficult task if china was to do on their own, and to gt it done offiantly and fast I think that they shouldn’t do alone,
China’s environmental problems remain serious with local governments not putting enough pressure on businesses to control pollution. The environmental protection agency in China was replaced, but enforcement still depends largely on local officials. These departments need to place greater pressure on containing pollution. The best way to overcome this is to continue to press businesses to reduce pollution emissions through technology and management. Local governments often face a conflict of interest because they benefit economically from heavily polluting industries.
There are many agencies through the government that monitor the pollution activities of businesses. There have been many debates on whether something should be done about China..if something is not done, more tragedies will happen.
The United States government needs to step in to control these issues in China. The impact on the children has been devastating. The chemicals affect animals, foliage, and water—even out in the middle of the ocean. The economy is bad enough that the government cannot put off forcing these countries to follow the rules and regulations on keeping the environment, the air that we breathe, and the water we drink clean.
Alex Victor
2nd Hour
2-26-09
I do believe that china should be forced to fix the pollution problems that they have but I do not think that china is responsible for the entire mess. I believe that other countries that order goods from china support Chinas industries which keeps them running and pollution constantly being added to the earths atmosphere. I also do not believe that china should be forced to pay for these problems straight from their taxes but should raise the taxes of the exported goods to raise the money to fix the pollution problem as well as persuade businesses to stop importing goods from china and to start manufacturing them closer or even in the united states. This would also keep the money flowing in the united states and lessen the chances of another depression in the economy. Making the taxes on exported goods in china by a little bit would raise the money needed and make people more sensible about where their products are coming from.
Eric Bruning
Hour 1
I think that China should be pressured to fix it’s pollution problem. Countries should try to push China so they can be clean and look respectful when people visit their country.I think they should go green like the U.S. and start taxing other countries because their making other people countries toys.The Money should go and try to clean all the waters because some of it is going in to california and they already have enough problems with pollution.The people of china should say something about it and try to fix it. Ithink they need to have less plants so won't be as much smoke in the air. they should also fine people if they pollute the lakes so that will make the water clean.
China should absolutely be pressured to fix there recently increased pollution rates. The fact that people have to wear masks when they go outside is ridiculous. People are prematurely dyeing, rivers cannot be fished, masks must be worn, and innocent children are being born with defects all because of china’s pollution. And person I think it is partially our fault for allowing them to get so out of control. So I believe it is our duty to stop china from becoming even worse. Funding however is a large problem and china has loaned us a lot of money and could use that against us if we pressured them o change, but china should be the one who pays for the fixing of the pollution. They need to learn their lesson and so they need to suffer for their wrong doing, and we can do that by making them pay for the cleaning of the air, water and the new less pollution producing factories.
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