China on the way to a sustainable future?

Friedman’s article is surprising in that it highlights China’s attempt to modify its heavily industrial economy. The world’s most populous country wants a green revolution of its own. The apparent ease through which the Chinese leadership has started this movement may well reflect some of the more pressing climate issues they face. The more cynical among us may even interpret this as a simple means of saving face after years of severe environmental degradation in the country. After all, the Chinese government has pumped huge amounts of capital into the development of its heavy industrial sectors, often turning a blind eye to regulating any environmental concerns.

The technocrats within the Chinese bureaucracy have discovered that perhaps the nation’s road to a better future cannot come through continual haphazard production. Their wish now is to step away from more damaging and even dangerous means of production and pick us such methods as recycling. In the case of this article, it’s as simple as reclaiming plastic bottles, something America has been slow to do.

To me, China’s interest in cleaning up their economy seems genuine. Already they have had some labor protests as a result of poor working and living conditions. They fear such poor conditions will lead to unrest in the long run. It would seem as though they want more moral authority over the United States, now that they have actually taken action; American continues to twiddle its thumbs, at least on a federal level. Already, China is investing in wind power on a new level. According to NPR’s Foreign Dispatch, the Chinese are already putting up wind turbines in the Gobi Desert. When completed in 2020, the plants will provide 13.6 kilowatts of power, enough energy to power all of Chile.