THE CRUX OF THE DILEMMA: CHINA

They know what the problem is and they can't stop themselves from making it worse--sounds like an addiction, doesn't it?

China fails to meet energy and pollution targets
January 10, 2007 (AFP via Yahoo News)
- China failed to meet targets to improve energy use and cut pollution last year, state press has said, underscoring the difficulty of protecting the environment amid the nation's frantic economic boom.
- China had set 2006 goals of reducing energy consumption per unit of gross domestic product (GDP) by four percent and cutting emissions of pollutants by two percent, but both goals were missed…
- The National Development Reform Commission, China's planning agency, has not revealed the extent to which the goals were missed…energy consumption actually increased by 0.8 percent per unit of GDP during the first half of the year, while emissions of several key pollutants also grew…

- only Beijing and five other provinces or municipalities fulfilled their energy efficiency and pollution emission goals…
- China produced more than 12 billion tons of industrial waste-water in the first half of 2006, up 2.4 percent…
- A major index of water pollution called the chemical oxygen demand (COD) increased by 3.7 percent in the first six months…
- Emissions of the air pollutant sulfur dioxide rose 4.2 percent…
- more than 70 percent of rivers and lakes were polluted, while underground water supplies in 90 percent of Chinese cities were contaminated.