Comments on: China dominates the green economy http://rockrivertimes.com/2011/08/31/china-dominates-the-green-economy/ The Rock River Times - THE VOICE OF THE COMMUNITY SINCE 1993 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 05:33:27 -0500 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 hourly 1 By: John M. Stassi http://rockrivertimes.com/2011/08/31/china-dominates-the-green-economy/comment-page-1/#comment-3416 John M. Stassi Fri, 02 Sep 2011 16:37:49 +0000 http://rockrivertimes.com/?p=32681#comment-3416 Thank you for this most interesting article. It provides even more evidence of the dangers inherent in our “free trade” relationship with China than I mentioned in a Guest Column (“Free trade, not unions, has damaged the job market” http://rockrivertimes.com/2011/08/31/guest-column-free-trade-not-unions-has-damaged-the-job-market/ ) that appeared in this same issue. This is not the only instance of China flooding the world market with its cheaply made goods, and in so doing destroying manufacturing/production capacity in other countries, leaving it with monopoly control over those products and other countries at their mercy. The consequences include not only stifling economic growth, as Dr. Liu suggests, but more importantly in many instances damaging national sovereignty and economic independence. For example, consider China’s control of the production of Rare Earth elements. Until the 1980s, the US was the world’s largest producer, but once the US opened its market to unregulated imports from China, US mines could not compete with production from Chinese mines with their cheap labor and non-existent environmental, health and safety regulations, and so US production all but ceased. There is a decent review of these events here: Can the U.S. Rare-Earth Industry Rebound? The U.S. has plenty of the metals that are critical to many green-energy technologies, but engineering and R&D expertise have moved overseas. By Katherine Bourzac Technology Review. Friday, October 29, 2010 http://www.technologyreview.com/energy/26655/?p1=MstCom What China is doing to global market for PV equipment seems to me to be just a rerun of what they did to the global rare earth metal industry. Can we expect the consequences to turn out any differently? Rare earth elements are used in the production of wind turbine magnets. China now controls that part of the sustainable energy market and appears to be intent on extending its monopoly control to other sustainable energy technologies. The rare earth metal industry and the PV equipment industry have another thing in common. They are both toxic processes. PV manufacturing toxicity is covered here: Taylor DA 2010. On the Job with Solar PV. Environ Health Perspect 118:A19-A19 Online: 01 January 2010 http://dx.doi.org/10.1289/ehp.118-a19 A good review of the toxicity of Rare Earth element mining and processing is available on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rare_earth_element#Environmental_considerations What do you think life is like for Chinese workers in either of these toxic industries? For an inside view of workplace health and safety in China, I recommend this series of articles: "American Imports, Chinese Deaths" By Loretta Tofani Salt Lake Tribune, 2007 http://extras.sltrib.com/china/ Without globalized social, economic and political justice for all, global environmental sustainability is not possible. We can delude ourselves into thinking otherwise, but in so doing, we contribute greatly to the suffering of those, like the workers in China, who feed our delusions at the cost of their own limbs, lives and liberties. A sustainable planet must be a free and just one. Anything less than that will not stand. Thank you for this most interesting article. It provides even more evidence of the dangers inherent in our “free trade” relationship with China than I mentioned in a Guest Column (“Free trade, not unions, has damaged the job market” http://rockrivertimes.com/2011/08/31/guest-column-free-trade-not-unions-has-damaged-the-job-market/ ) that appeared in this same issue.

This is not the only instance of China flooding the world market with its cheaply made goods, and in so doing destroying manufacturing/production capacity in other countries, leaving it with monopoly control over those products and other countries at their mercy.

The consequences include not only stifling economic growth, as Dr. Liu suggests, but more importantly in many instances damaging national sovereignty and economic independence.

For example, consider China’s control of the production of Rare Earth elements. Until the 1980s, the US was the world’s largest producer, but once the US opened its market to unregulated imports from China, US mines could not compete with production from Chinese mines with their cheap labor and non-existent environmental, health and safety regulations, and so US production all but ceased. There is a decent review of these events here:

Can the U.S. Rare-Earth Industry Rebound?
The U.S. has plenty of the metals that are critical to many green-energy technologies, but engineering and R&D expertise have moved overseas.
By Katherine Bourzac
Technology Review. Friday, October 29, 2010
http://www.technologyreview.com/energy/26655/?p1=MstCom

What China is doing to global market for PV equipment seems to me to be just a rerun of what they did to the global rare earth metal industry. Can we expect the consequences to turn out any differently?

Rare earth elements are used in the production of wind turbine magnets. China now controls that part of the sustainable energy market and appears to be intent on extending its monopoly control to other sustainable energy technologies.

The rare earth metal industry and the PV equipment industry have another thing in common. They are both toxic processes.

PV manufacturing toxicity is covered here:

Taylor DA 2010.
On the Job with Solar PV.
Environ Health Perspect 118:A19-A19
Online: 01 January 2010
http://dx.doi.org/10.1289/ehp.118-a19

A good review of the toxicity of Rare Earth element mining and processing is available on Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rare_earth_element#Environmental_considerations

What do you think life is like for Chinese workers in either of these toxic industries? For an inside view of workplace health and safety in China, I recommend this series of articles:

“American Imports, Chinese Deaths”
By Loretta Tofani
Salt Lake Tribune, 2007
http://extras.sltrib.com/china/

Without globalized social, economic and political justice for all, global environmental sustainability is not possible. We can delude ourselves into thinking otherwise, but in so doing, we contribute greatly to the suffering of those, like the workers in China, who feed our delusions at the cost of their own limbs, lives and liberties.

A sustainable planet must be a free and just one. Anything less than that will not stand.

]]>