Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
burst forth. International groups like WWF and the Nature Conservancy
are present, but likewise they are restricted by the requirements for
government sponsorship and the prohibition of branches.
Because the Communist Party runs everything, its ideology of materialism
continues to dominate. Only a few cracks have appeared in the monolith
as top leaders have acknowledged the popular concern with air pollution
or dirty water.
The extreme authoritarianism of the government means the official leg-
islature, the People's Congress, rubber stamps the direction of the party.
Yet environmental issues have been one of the rare areas where dissent
breaks forth, such as the vote on the Three Gorges Dam. Since the 1980s the
People's Congress has enacted laws and constitutional provisions giving the
formal forms of protection. The creation of the Ministry of Environmental
Protection and its predecessor agencies has created a bureaucracy that
pushes that direction. On the other hand, the continued power of State
Owned Enterprises frequently overrules protection in individual cases.
After 1949 the People's Republic was diplomatically isolated for two or
three decades. Although it did attend the Stockholm Summit, the confer-
ence did not become an avenue to bring in environmental ideas the way
it was for other developing countries. Leading up to the 1992 Framework
Convention on Climate Change, China suddenly became engaged, coordi-
nating closely with the Group of 77 developing countries to advocate that
they should not be subject to restrictions on greenhouse gas emissions.
Their arguments that they did not emit much, and that they deserved
time to catch up with the industrial countries, seemed more disingenuous
with each passing year as Chinese economic growth and gas emissions
grew. InĀ 2006 the People's Republic surpassed the United States in carbon
dioxide emissions. Nevertheless, the industrial countries acquiesced and
did not impose quotas on China, yet its claim for privilege became mean-
ingless as the entire Kyoto program dissolved around that time.
Although the impact of the environmental movement was slow and
fitful, China did absorb some ideas. It put provisions in its constitution
and laws and established agencies. More recently, ordinary citizens have
become aware of programs in other countries as they confront contami-
nated rivers and dirty air. One of the most notable gifts from China to the
world dates back centuries as the Europeans imitated the scholar's garden.
More recently, China assumed strong leadership of the Group of 77 on the
issue of global warming.
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