China Crisis: threat to the global environment

[Geronimo]

Originally posted by Arrian
No, someone will just take it from you.

-Arrian

if by take you mean pay lots of cold hard cash for it, then yes I agree there will be many takers for Canadas fresh water.

[MOBIUS]

More about those pesky Chinese...

Ethiopia pledges to track down oil workers' killers

Ethiopian soldiers are hunting for seven Chinese and Ethiopian workers taken hostage after the deadliest backlash against China's burgeoning interests in Africa left 74 people dead.

The Chinese government yesterday "strongly condemned" the killing of nine Chinese and 65 Ethiopians by separatist fighters at a Chinese oil exploration site in eastern Ethiopia.

The Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) claimed responsibility for the attack, saying the dead Chinese workers were caught in the crossfire during their assault on Monday night on Ethiopian soldiers guarding the facility. The separatist ethnic Somalis had warned foreign oil and gas companies to stay out of the region as long as the Ogaden people are "denied their rights to self-determination".

The Ethiopian government, in a statement released in London, vowed to track down the "terrorists" responsible for the attack, and said that "the exploration in no way harms the people of the region. In fact, it contributes to the growth and economic welfare of the region's inhabitants".

The ONLF denied having seized hostages, and said that "they have been removed from the battlefield for their own safety and are being treated well".

It seemed only a matter of time as to when Chinese facilities in Africa, where Beijing is siphoning up raw materials to fuel the Chinese economic boom, would come under attack again. Zambians rioted over pay at a Chinese-owned mine last year, while Chinese oil workers have been kidnapped in Nigeria. But this week's attack was the deadliest incident so far.

While Africa's leaders may be happy to take the Chinese yuan, its resentful people are accusing China of being modern colonialists. Chinese workers are being exported to build roads, pipelines and other infrastructure projects, at the expense of the local workforce.

Cheap Chinese goods are flooding markets in Dar es Salaam, Nairobi and Addis Ababa, pushing local businesses to the brink.

China's trade with Africa has risen from $2bn (£1bn) in 1999 to $40bn by 2005. Within three years it is expected to soar to $100bn. China is now the third largest trading partner in Africa after the US and France - and they are catching France up fast.

The British government has pointed out that China is pursuing its economic agenda in Africa at the expense of diplomacy and human rights. China arms the Islamist government in Khartoum, and its trade links with Sudan have impeded international efforts to halt the violence and ethnic cleansing in Darfur.

For China, which takes the bulk of the 350,000 barrels of oil Sudan pumps each day, Darfur is an "internal issue". But China's attempt to separate economic from political reality has once again backfired with the latest attack which puts the spotlight on one of the longest running conflicts in the violence-torn Horn of Africa. Ethnic Somalis in Ethiopia's arid eastern region along the border with Somalia - itself torn by conflict - have been fighting Ethiopia for independence for 23 years.

Ethiopia sought to implicate its enemy Eritrea directly in the attack. The attackers "were wearing Eritrean military uniforms," Abdullahi Hassan, president of the Ethiopian region told Associated Press. "We are sure. They were speaking the Eritrean language."

But the Eritrean government denied the accusation, saying it was a "nonsense statement" from Ethiopia.

The Ethiopian embassy in London sought to portray the Ogaden fighters as part of a "terrorist network that extends from Asmara to Somalia and beyond."

A territorial conflict

* The Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) has been fighting Ethiopia for independence since 1984. The Ethiopian government accuses it of being associated with al-Qa'ida, but the ONLF denies this.

* The region at the heart of the dispute was awarded to Ethiopia by the British in 1954. It has since been the cause of two wars between Ethiopia and neighbouring Somalia.

* The ONLF was formed after Ethiopia crushed Somali troops trying to regain areas populated by nomadic ethnic Somalis in 1977-78. The two countries signed a peace treaty in 1988, but fighting continues.

* The ONLF, said to be supported by Eritrea, is also involved in fighting between the Eritrean-backed Islamists in Somalia, pitted against the Ethiopian-backed interim government. There are fears the conflict could spread across the border into the Ogaden region.

Basically the Chinese are turning Africa into their own private resources colony and don't seem to give a **** how or from whom they take the resources from...

Maybe the ONLF has the right idea...

[MOBIUS]

Bump of a thread I created almost 2 years ago...

[Tingkai]

And in the past two years, what have you done to reduce pollution?

[Arrian]

Well, he's done lots of whining on the internet

-Arrian

[Ming]

And I think people need to discuss the topic an not the posters!

[Patroklos]

Didn't it used to be a restriction event to bump an ancient thread without adding anything to it?

[MOBIUS]

See what I have to put up with, Ming...

Originally posted by Tingkai
And in the past two years, what have you done to reduce pollution?

I've done plenty actually...

I've been environmentally conscious for about the last decade anyway, though recently been targeting what I can do about it much more. I actually did some musing about it back in April - apologies for its rambling nature:

I have been thinking about the whole global warming issue and it suddenly being fashionable for people to be ‘green’. But does ‘being green’ necessarily mean making a sacrifice and spending more money – generally having to curtail your quality of life, as many detractors claim?

Personally I don’t think so at all, which is why my first round in ‘being green’ is purely 100% about being Selfish (no changes there!)…

My Energy Saving

Round #1

Lighting: Almost all bulbs are low energy, including 50% spotlights. Uplighter is still halogen because they don’t yet have low energy bulbs for it, 50% of spotlights are still normal due to the harshness of the light otherwise. Lights off when not in use.

Laundry: Using Eco Balls(!). Been trialling these for a couple of months now, and they actually seem to work!!! Basically they “produce ionized oxygen that activates the water molecules naturally and allows them to penetrate deep into clothing fibres to lift dirt away” without using any washing detergent or fabric conditioner!!! I even washed some old muddy kit from a year ago and it came out clean! Only problem seems to be the whites slowly go grey, so we occasionally have to perk them up with some vanish – but the savings in the pocket and on the environment are well worth it.

Mains power: Turning stuff off at the mains after use and avoiding standby drain, basically my two main ‘appliance clusters’ of the PC and peripherals; and the TV and peripherals off at source! Other stuff like phone charger switched of when not in use etc.

General: Not overusing cooker by buying an energy efficient table top slow cooker, only filling kettle with water you need. Bought a wind-up/solar powered radio, which now it has become sunny is fully capable of powering itself. Refuse to buy a DAB as it appears to use about 10X than a normal radio for some reason! All batteries now rechargeable.

Water: Getting metered water supply! Avoiding running taps unnecessarily, showering at the gym (I kid you not! Plus it gives me more incentive to go), putting a 'hippo' in the toilet cistern, not having baths, using economic settings on the washing machine. In the three months since we’ve been here our first metered water bill is about 30% less than if we were unmetered! Also, Dwr Cymru (Welsh Water) is owned by its customers, so I actually got a dividend of £25!!!

Transport: Walk to work. Walk in Cardiff in general. Car is only used for bulk shopping/longer journeys.

Holidays: Prioritise low impact. Go camping more often, used the tent three separate times last year – cheap and fun! Easy to nip off for a long weekend. Holiday closer to home, been exploring lots of Wales and England lately what with global warming making our climate very nice lately! Use the car instead of flying.

BBQ: Bought a ‘log maker’ to turn all our paper, cardboard, leaves etc into ‘logs’ that burn up to an hour – will be trialling them when we have our first BBQ! Hoping that we will not need to buy any BBQ fuel whatsoever!

Food: Starting to grow various ‘food crops’, bought some potted herbs such as basil, rosemary, oregano, mint, chives etc which have all been extensively used already. Will be planting some vegetables such as tomatoes very soon. Inspired by knowing they will be pesticide free, zero food miles etc.

Buying more locally sourced food direct from local farmer’s market and butchers. Buying less meat, but better quality (most cheap meat is only cheap because it is bulked up by all sorts of crap, so why not just cut out the crap completely), reducing dependency on supermarkets and supporting local shops. Using own carrier bags, avoiding over packaged foods (we are paying for the packaging!). I have been steadily identifying food and drink produced here in Wales and try and target those brands as much as possible – for example I almost exclusively drink beer brewed by Brains, Cardiff’s own brewery! Did you know Wales has it’s own wines, whiskey, gin, vodka etc.

To do list:

Water Butt attached to garage roof/main roof to store water for the garden and other ‘grey water’ uses – washing the car!!?

Buy fridge power regulator (increases efficiency of your fridge’s power use)

Insulate wall where radiator attaches with reflective foil

Insulate central heating pipes.

Insulate ceiling.

‘A’ rated energy using appliances. Washing Machine is already, will replace fridge with more energy efficient one.

Buy LCD TV. Apparently uses less energy than a normal TV. Plasmas are bad as they use more energy than a normal TV.

Buy nearly new smaller car and convert to LPG to take advantage of >50% fuel savings and road tax exemptions.

Might try a ferry trip to Europe this year.

Buy locally produced clothes – from the UK! Again, helping our own economy and people, using renewable resources such as wool, leather etc with low ‘clothing miles’.

Sorry if I’m rambling like a hippy or whatever, however this has all been achieved with no real altruistic action on my part to ‘save the planet’ etc, it is more borne out of direct financial savings to my pocket, as well as direct benefits to my health – so it is easily possible to become environmentally conscious and help yourself at the same time with no ‘sacrifice’ necessary! For instance, while staying on the ground while going on holiday is currently a novelty, I am not banning myself from flying and fully intend to continue my travelling wanderlust (2006 was particularly bad with 8 flights and 2 helicopter journeys!).

Anyway, something to think about…?

http://www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/

http://ecotopia.co.uk/index.jsp

As I said in the quote, all this is done with little effort, with the express aim to save money - the next step is to actually start making real sacrifices for the planet...

And what have you done, Tingkai?

[Tingkai]

Good on ya for doing your part to solve the problem, And I mean this sincerely. The world would be a better place if more people in the developed world had your attitude.

As for me, in thepast two years I have:
1) Quit smoking, and now I realize how much air pollution and garbage I was creating. I really hate walking behind a person who smokes;

2) Like you, done the light bulb thing; and

3) I move to within walking distance from work.

How well do the ecoballs work on sweat drenched clothes ( a major problems in the sub-tropics)?

As for your suggestions, most won't work in China (too expensive) or are already done, so how would you fix the problem there?

[DaShi]

China has enough money to send people into space but can't make insulated buildings or factories that pollute less?

[DinoDoc]

Why not? The DPRK has a nuclear weapons program and look at them.

[DaShi]

Well, one thing is true. China is becoming a far greater threat to the environment than the US ever was, regardless if they can do anything about it.

[Tingkai]

Originally posted by DaShi
China has enough money to send people into space but can't make insulated buildings or factories that pollute less?

Well think about it. You might realize this is a stupid argument.

The money spent on space programs is a tiny fraction of what is needed to fix the pollution problem.

Look at the United States. They put a man into space 45 years ago, but pollution is still a problem there just as it is in other developed economies. And you would be hard pressed to prove that the U.S. has worst pollution because it spent money on the space program.

The fact of the matter is China is still a relatively poor developing economy and if rich countries struggle to reduce pollution then it is hardly realistic to demand that China mimic rich countries.

[DaShi]

Originally posted by Tingkai


Well think about it. You might realize this is a stupid argument.

The money spent on space programs is a tiny fraction of what is needed to fix the pollution problem.

Look at the United States. They put a man into space 45 years ago, but pollution is still a problem there just as it is in other developed economies. And you would be hard pressed to prove that the U.S. has worst pollution because it spent money on the space program.

The fact of the matter is China is still a relatively poor developing economy and if rich countries struggle to reduce pollution then it is hardly realistic to demand that China mimic rich countries.

The US is not China. Nor is it often the best example to follow.

The point is that China does have money to spend on dealing with pollution but it won't. China is not as poor as it makes itself out to be (nor as rich when the argument favors that side ). Even then, many countries have offered help, but when the money reaches China, it vanishes. The problem is that China would rather spend its money on nationalistic space programs, its military (specifically missiles pointed at Taiwan), subsidising businesses, and lining the pockets of government officials. China may not be able to get rid of all of its pollution, but to let it get this bad this fast is irresponsible. This is a area where the Chinese have surpassed the US. Remarks like yours are just as irresponsible. China can deal with the problem, but won't.

[Tingkai]

You're living in a dream world where you expect a developing country to do what developed countries have not done. You expect results with a snap of a finger.

Even worse, you offer no real solutions, just empty hate-filled talk. Prove me wrong. Provide some viable ways that China could reduce pollution.

But of course you won't because we all know that for you this isn't about pollution. It is just another excuse for you to spew your hated of China.

You really need to come to terms with what happened in Hangzhou or else your hate will eat you like a cancer.