How the US and the West contributed to China addiction to dirty development
Los Angeles-based author Chip Jacobs became well known in China for his book, Smogtown, about pollution in the Californian metropolis, which he co-authored with William Kelly.
Los Angeles-based author Chip Jacobs became well known in China for his book, Smogtown, about pollution in the Californian metropolis, which he co-authored with William Kelly. The pair have now turned their attention to China's struggle with pollution in their book, The People's Republic of Chemicals. Jacobs spoke to LI JING
I think it's connected with China's tragic history - whether with the foreign occupation, the Opium Wars, the Japanese invasion or the cold war. All those historical events in some way encouraged China to continue using coal to fuel its industry, warm its homes and maintain development. For years, China was stuck in old-fashioned coal dependence.
In the 1990s, the US was eager to bring China into the world of nations. The cold war had ended and the Soviet Union had dissolved, but China remained a mystery. The US leadership of Bill Clinton and Al Gore wanted China to be involved in the global economy, but they made a fundamental mistake that led to a fight with Washington. Gore wanted any deal that brought China into the World Trade Organisation to include controls on China using dirty coal, which increased global warming and created air pollution. But he lost his fight.
China went on to become a gigantic export powerhouse. At that time the central leadership was looking for an edge, to make China competitive. It was a perfect storm for China to have a very dirty industrial revolution. The US had a very dirty industrial revolution at the dawn of the last century - and a lot of people died. It's as if the lessons were never remembered.
