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Friday, June 15, 2007          Reader Comments

Seeing green in Red China's environmental black eye

Bennington, VT — China’s late communist dictator Chairman Mao often boasted “The East is Red.” Vaclav Smil, a Canadian academic properly described China’s sooty environment as “The East is Black.” Now Vermont Governor Jim Douglas has ventured to China to try to encourage an “East is Green” message to a promising market.

Interestingly Vermont as one of America’s “greenest” in every way states, has wisely focused on the China market as an export destination for its leading edge technology.

The People’s Republic of China offers a particularly promising market for American environmental firms; after all Beijing’s breakneck economic growth has come at the expense of rampant and reckless pollution.

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Vermont’s Republican Governor has led a business delegation to the Middle Kingdom in search of new trade opportunities. Speaking in Shanghai Douglas exclaimed…."We are building relationships for the future that I think will be very, very successful," said Douglas, describing the trip as a “long-term investment" in his state's economy.

"We really believe that this niche of environmental engineering and technology will be very successful as we move forward,” the Governor added.

The nineteen member Vermont delegation met with Shanghai Mayor Han Zheng, who rarely meets with visiting governors or cabinet officials. Douglas later remarked, “It is significant that he chose to give our delegation some of his time.”

Obviously there’s the typical “building relationships” phase of the mission as well as the usual political palaver about the lure of near boundless China markets. In this case there’s cause for optimism because beyond the legendary maple syrup and specialty food products, Vermont holds a real advantage in advanced environmental technology which China desperately needs. And given China’s whopping trade surplus with the USA, (a nearly unconscionable $233 billion in 2006 alone!!), Beijing certainly has the moolah to pay Green Mountain companies. Sadly few private firms joined the landmark mission.

Vermont’s trade with East Asia remains vital. According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, in 2006 after Canada, Taiwan remains the number two customer with Vermont exports reaching $304 million, to People’s China $186 million, and to Beijing-run Hong Kong at $200 million. Thus tiny Vermont’s (population 625,000) trade with the three parts of the Chinese triangle remains an impressive $700 million. Seven out of Vermont’s top ten trading partners are in the Far East.

Reflecting the reality of divided China, Vermont remains the only American state maintaining trade representative offices on both sides of the Taiwan Straits; in Taipei as well as in Shanghai. China has been a divided nation with two rival governments since 1949 after Mao’s communists won the civil war and seized the Mainland while the Nationalists went into exile on the island of Taiwan.

In recent years China’s economy has surged despite the ironic mix of increasingly free markets (actually crony capitalism) yet controlled by a still authoritarian political regime.

Reports suggest that China may have already become the world's biggest global polluter, and much earlier than expected. The Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency said China's CO2 emissions had risen by 9% in 2006, as compared with 1.4% in the U.S. The British environmental agency reports that China is building two power plants per week to satisfy energy supply for China’s economy. The downside means that the PRC pollution from these largely coal-fired facilities has massively added to greenhouse gasses. Put another way, in the last year alone China built new coal plants equaling the electric power capacity of the entire United Kingdom.

Britain’s Climate Change supremo John Ashton just returned from China. "It is a massive challenge," Ashton told the BBC, “We need to convince China that they don't have to make a choice between prosperity and protecting the climate. We need to help them towards a low-carbon future…There is also a moral case. Most of the greenhouse gases in the atmosphere have been put there by developing countries without the constraint of having to worry about the climate.” Ashton added that the Chinese had put out their first climate strategy, in an effort "to get to grips with their emissions and use energy efficiently”

Writing in the Rutland Herald, Douglas advised, “Vermont companies could deliver energy-efficiency and alternative energy solutions to China that would reduce the need to build more coal generation facilities, and technology and know-how to address emissions or groundwater problems.”

Clearly this is where Vermont business is targeted; making contacts, hopefully signing contracts and doing what American industry does well, gaining markets. Vermont, the Green Mountain State, seeks to play an important environmental role in China ensuring “the East is Green.”


John J. Metzler is a U.N. correspondent covering diplomatic and defense issues. He writes weekly for World Tribune.com.


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