Apparently even the impossible is commonplace in China. Ms. Cha and the Washington Post are to be congratulated for their investigative field work.
The blatant disregard for human safety and environmental health exhibited by Luoyang Zhonggui is not unique to China. However, a Chinese expert is quoted by Ms. Cha as follows, "If this happened in the United States, you'd probably be arrested." In the U. S. A., we've seen similar disregard for the consequences from many sources over the years, including mining companies and various energy and chemical producers. In Europe, similar problems with the environment are well documented. However, the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA), the European Union, and growing public awareness (dating back to publication of Rachel Carson's Silent Spring) have eliminated, remediated and prevented many environmental problems (even if there are still areas that badly need intervention, or simply need the government to enforce its own laws and regulations).
So, should China be allowed to poison its own people and land for the sake of Capitalism, the way other countries did during the rise of industrialization? If you think that this is an overstatement, please read the rest of Ms. Cha's article. The outside world has little influence over internal affairs in China, but we should use what influence we do have: while developed nations still have much work to do in environmental areas, and must remain vigilant against backsliding, it is a tragedy for the Chinese people that their country is unwilling to learn much from the mistakes, including serious disasters, of more-industrialized nations.
In the meantime, there is new solar panel technology that doesn't require polysilicon, for example, "solar paint" developed by Nanosolar and “solar ink” recently described by Konarka. Nanosolar’s solar technology is reportedly more efficient than coal at generating electricity. We can hope that these new technologies will continue to make inroads into the marketplace and will drive the construction of greener manufacturing facilities. Given the growing demand for green electricity from solar power, such advances can’t come soon enough.
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