Less often discussed is the fact that the environmental crisis in China is driven in significant part by the production of goods for our consumption.  The resultant pollution in turn is finding its way back to the U.S.  A few media articles have made this connection. 

A Wall Street Journal article last week noted the following:

A significant portion of China's air pollution can be traced directly to the production of goods that are exported. In the city of Shenzhen, a major industrial base in southern China, about 89% of emissions of sulfur dioxide, an air pollutant that causes acid rain, are released in the process of export manufacturing, according to a recent study published in the U.S.-based Journal of Environmental Science and Technology. The study also found 71% of particulate matter, the small particles that cause smog and respiratory problems, can be traced to the manufacturing of exported goods.

The best piece I have seen on the connection between Chinese pollution and U.S. consumer behavior is Evan Osnos’ award-winning piece in the Chicago Tribune on Chinese cashmere.  The article tied insatiable demand in the U.S. for $20 Wal-Mart cashmere sweaters to massive land degradation in northern China where the goats that generate cashmere wool are raised.  The dust storms caused by this land degradation have in turn contributed to air pollution over the U.S.  Osnos talks about the cycle on the Colbert Report of all places (to paraphrase, “the goats hooves are like little stiletto heels piercing the earth…”). What goes around comes around.

China’s government is using this dynamic to try to address its own environmental problems.  China’s State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA) recently announced an initiative with the Ministry of Commerce to clamp down on export manufacturers that violate environmental laws.  According to WSJ, “export manufacturers that violate China's pollution laws would be forced to close for one to three years. The policy will be enforced jointly by SEPA and the Ministry of Commerce.” 

On its face, this seems like a superfluous move since all enterprises (not just export manufacturers) are subject to environmental laws already.  However, the key here is joint SEPA enforcement with the much more powerful Ministry of Commerce.  SEPA continues to be one of China’s weakest ministries with only 250 some staffers at the national level to oversee China’s environmental protection, and this represents another in a series of moves by SEPA to maximize its influence within the limits of its fairly significant resource constraints.