When a Billion Chinese Jump

Science Information Network [CIESIN], Earth Institute at Columbia University).

2. Evident during a 2009 visit to Beijing by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who refrained from repeating her previous outspoken criticism of China’s human rights record to emphasize that Beijing’s cooperation on climate change was vital.

3. In researching this book, I came across many suggestions for improving mankind’s eco-footprint. The principle of making polluters pay could be expanded to consumers by surcharging goods produced using unsustainable materials. Energy and water should be metered and priced to reflect their pollution costs and scarcity. Conversely, there should be incentives in the form of subsidies and lower taxes for “living lightly.” Education should emphasize sustainability, and far more information should be made available about air, water, and soil quality (by adding an environment forecast to the daily weather forecast, for example). Environment insurance companies could be nurtured to offset risk and champion strong precautionary measures. In the political sphere, there should be tighter central government control over regional environmental issues and more rigorous implementation of environmental legislation. More ambitiously, systems of governance could be reshaped to include a politically neutral chamber that represented the long-term interests of the earth rather than the short-term concerns of the electorate.

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