The Other Side of Competition from China and Developing Countries

Last night on The National, CBC's (Canadian Broadcasting Corp.) hour-long newscast, there was a lengthy report about China's pollution problems and the impacts it is having on its people, crops and rivers.  It focused on untreated polluted water coming from a state-owned chemical plant which produces a compound used in the manufacture of cell phones and televisions.  The contaminated water is dumped straight into a tributary of China's Yangtze River---one of the country's arteries of life.  It is having a devastating impact on its "river people," fish, crops and drinking water.

Contrast that with what is happening in our state and nation.  America's industries and municipal governments continue to invest billions in making sure our water is safe to drink, our air is fresh, and our land is cleaned up and uncontaminated.  Unfortunately, not all nation's play by our rules, but they produce products that undercut American-made products in the marketplace.   

For example, last weekend, we took our grandchildren to Bonneville Dam (40 miles east of Vancouver in the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area) and watched the record run of Sockeye salmon climb the fish ladders. More that 220,000 have passed the counters at the dam so far this year and tribal fishermen have lots of Sockeye for sale in the nearby town of Cascade Locks, OR. 

In the past 30 years, we have fished near Illwaco at the mouth of the Columbia and eaten the salmon we caught without reservation or fear. If fact, we have waded into the lower Columbia River on sandbars near Astoria and swim in the ocean just south of there knowing the water is safe from contamination.

There are three things to consider: 

1. We need to continue to develop the pollution prevention, monitoring and cleanup technology and find innovate ways to conserve and cut wastes. We need to market those processes, products and services to the rest of the world and make a buck while we are at it. 
2. We need to make sure that the costs to Americans--people, employers and governments--are not so excessive that they put our jobs and our families at risk. Production expenses, including taxes, fees and the costs of government regulations, can determine if a product is made in United States, India or Vietnam.  Why not encourage domestic production which incorporates all of the best environmental controls available?
3. Pressure from consumers is a powerful way to change public policy and level the playing field in the market place. When people shop, retailers and manufacturers listen.  The example is what is happening to the new concentrated formulas and smaller containers for laundry detergent. 

ADDED NOTE:  CBC's news format differs from the news programs we see each night in America.  CBC tends to go in depth with its report and the one on China's pollution problem was 8:45 minutes.

Don C. Brunell (DonC@awb.org)