So wait...why am I changing my light bulbs for the environment?

[npor]

So while we're all here in America changing light bulbs, recycling, trying to be greener than ever...

China is doing WHAT?

I don't know if this is old, or if it's already been posted, but I'm raising awareness. This is ridiculous.

China doesn't care about anything but making money. Take about blind economical gains.

http://www.chinahush.com/2009/10/21/...tion-in-china/

[Night Wolf]

damn, they are fucking up the world pretty bad

[bcjammerx]

GEEZ you see the dead fish!

Wow..that's just...wow...

[bcjammerx]

are those fingerprints made in blood?

[Honda Enoch]

This is a good point, why is it that we always look toward America to help save the world? Anyone notice that most movies when the world is coming to an end, it's up to the U.S. to save it.

We do all the work to conserve energy while the rest of the world just lets it go to hell.

[MikeW]

This is exactly why im getting a v8 truck.

China's population makes up, what, like 20% of the world's population? Roughly. If the majority of them dont care, or seem to care and it doesnt appear their government is trying, why should we have to make up for it?

My brother's been talking about this alot lately, that the US and the world as a whole are destroying the world around us and if we want things to slow or get better, we wont be driving cars or living in suburbs; we'll be riding bikes, carpooling, and living in close-quarter communities.

If i go "green" it's not because i wanna save the planet, its cuz it might be cheaperr for me, and yeah, so i can say im doing my part, however small it may be.

[gloryaccordy]

This is exactly why im getting a v8 truck.

China's population makes up, what, like 20% of the world's population? Roughly. If the majority of them dont care, or seem to care and it doesnt appear their government is trying, why should we have to make up for it?

My brother's been talking about this alot lately, that the US and the world as a whole are destroying the world around us and if we want things to slow or get better, we wont be driving cars or living in suburbs; we'll be riding bikes, carpooling, and living in close-quarter communities.

If i go "green" it's not because i wanna save the planet, its cuz it might be cheaperr for me, and yeah, so i can say im doing my part, however small it may be.

"if they are going to take shits in public then i will too"

[MikeW]

Go for it.

Our legal system might be a little different than theirs, but if no one sees it, its not illegal, right?

[deevergote]

This is a good point, why is it that we always look toward America to help save the world? Anyone notice that most movies when the world is coming to an end, it's up to the U.S. to save it.

We do all the work to conserve energy while the rest of the world just lets it go to hell.

Actually, there are other countries that are doing quite well when it comes to not polluting the environment. The US is making an effort, but we've also been one of the worst offenders in recent times. The sheer number of vehicles in our country contributes a large amount of pollution.

It's not up to the US to save the world. Nobody is asking us to. In fact, most times, we've never been asked. We just stick our noses in. Sometimes we do what we intended, and we're appreciated (WW2), sometimes we fail, for whatever reason... and we're not appreciated (Korea, Vietnam...)
It's up to us to do our part. If it comes down to any sort of enforcement, I don't think we should be alone. However, this IS a planet that we all share, so what China (and any other country that is polluting on a large scale, the US included) is doing is the concern of everyone else as well.

This is appalling though. I always knew China had it bad in many areas... but I guess in my mind, the good, productive areas were just like us... and the bad, poor areas were way behind the times... like, people just living in shacks and working the land. Naive, I know.

[JoshM]

Is the Chinese goverment being charged hefty fines over this chaos?

[deevergote]

Who are they paying?

Even so, they're fighting so hard to get a significant place in the world economy that it's worth whatever the cost, apparently. They're getting there, too. The Chinese automakers aren't too far away from breaking into the market (though I've NEVER heard anything good about a Chinese car made by any of the companies that are thriving). They seem to be trying to take the same route that Korea and Japan took... Start with small, cheap crap... then work up to quality. But the sheer mass of population makes things a bit more difficult. Japan and Korea are tiny in comparison to China!

China should look toward their current competitor in the race for a place in the world economy... India. India is plagued by a similar situation... lots of people, lots of poverty... but they aren't doing things as poorly as the Chinese seem to be (of course, my knowledge on India's industrial ethics is limited... so that may just be my ignorance talking).

[JoshM]

Who are they paying?

I dunno, I didn't think that far into it.


Maybe the UN? NWO?

[owequitit]

This is exactly why im getting a v8 truck.

China's population makes up, what, like 20% of the world's population? Roughly. If the majority of them dont care, or seem to care and it doesnt appear their government is trying, why should we have to make up for it?

My brother's been talking about this alot lately, that the US and the world as a whole are destroying the world around us and if we want things to slow or get better, we wont be driving cars or living in suburbs; we'll be riding bikes, carpooling, and living in close-quarter communities.

If i go "green" it's not because i wanna save the planet, its cuz it might be cheaperr for me, and yeah, so i can say im doing my part, however small it may be.

It's actually closer to 50%.

[owequitit]

1) CFL's are not recommended for all useages. They should be installed into light fixtures that have the lights on for more than ~15 minutes at any given time. Any usage below that amount of time does not save an appreciable amount of energy and also greatly reduces the life of the bulb, since they are essentially flourescent lights.

However, you can see a tremendous benefit to cost savings if they are implemented correctly.

2) Are we not contributing to world pollution by supporting China's bad habits?

3) China is a case study in 3rd world development. Money doesn't grow on trees, and right now they are trying to grow to a point where they can feed their people regularly. Many parts of China still have no infrastructure, reliable electricity, reliable food sources etc.

The problem with 3rd world development is that the labor is cheap (an average city dweller makes about twice a country dweller at around $4200 US per year). Also, due to the lax environmental regulation, they are able to produce the things that YOU still want to buy, but don't want polluting your rivers. I.E. N.I.M.B.Y. has been driving these processes to China for years. Nobody wants a Bessemer Steel Mill in their back yard anymore, nor do they want a pesticide plant in their downtown or country side. So where do we get these chemicals? From countries where it is still cheap to produce.

Why does it have to be from countries where it is cheap to produce and not from clean, environmentally friendly factories? Because YOU want everything as cheap as you can get it. On the one hand, people don't want to pay for anything (if you have ever worked in sales of any kind, then you understand that), AND if the company charges enough to cover their costs, they accuse the company of being a big "evil" corporation that just uses the profits to line their pockets, and does nothing but screw the consumer. However, the unfortunately reality of it is that producing those products in a clean, industrialized country with regulation might drive the cost of the product up by more than two fold by the time all the costs, regulations, taxes, fees etc are rolled in. Especially since such countries seem to have the impression that somehow corporate money grows on trees, and thus companies (especially large ones) should be taxed more heavily than everyone else.

The result? We are a victim of our own creations.

China and India have litterally hundreds of millions of starving people that will do anything for a job. With the current infrastructure and capabilities of those countries, these are the types of economic growth they can currently attract, so that is what they are doing. Like every other industrialized country, they will go through a development process and grow through a range of areas, and eventually become a "mature" economy. Of course it doesn't help that the average Chinese person wants the US lifestyle, so they are willing to do the things we feel are beneath us in order to get it. Ultimately, with education, manufacturing, work ethic and the lack of "entitlement" they will steal our lifestyle, they will become the prime consumers, the world chief and we will have happen what has happened to all of Europe. We will not be leaders economically, and depending on how we unfold our future, we are likely to have the same job creation and sustainability issues that have plagued Europe since the mid 1950's.

[lokuputha]

^X2
Changing light bulbs is great; however, the brunt of the pollution exists where these products are manufactured.

LED is the new lighting technology IMO. It is much safer, cleaner, longer-lasting, and more efficient than both incandescent and CFL's. These lights have lifespans of up to 50,000hrs, after which their light output may drop to 50%.