The Dark Legacy of China's Drive for Global Resources

William Franke

Laurance, W. (2017, March 28). The Dark Legacy of China's Drive for Global Resources. Retrieved February 14, 2018, from http://e360.yale.edu/features/the-dark-legacy-of-chinas-drive-for-global-resources 

1. I already knew that China, due to a huge population size and rapid economic development, is a major consumer of resources at the domestic level. This large level of consumption makes them the world's leading polluter. In order to combat this though, I also know they have been investing heavily in renewable energy and have become one of the world leaders in alternative energy production.

2. From this article, I learned of the somewhat predatory nature of Chinese development both domestically and abroad. Despite investing heavily in renewable energy sources and appearing to commit heavily to greening their economy, the country is still responsible for massive mounts of environmental degradation on a global scale. Their infrastructure investments overseas, especially in Africa, has and will continue to lead to significant deforestation, ecological fragmentation, resource exploitation, and loss of biodiversity among many other issues. 

3. This article is relevant to what we are learning in class about resource consumption. China is responsible for consuming a vast amount of both renewable and nonrenewable resources. If China continues to consume at their current rate, they are quickly bringing the world closer to peak resource production in many different areas (book ch 6). Additionally, their environmental impact will continue to grow at an expedited rate and lead to greater pollution and a larger ecological footprint (book ch 3). 

4. This article sheds light on a lot of China's harmful environmental practices. Even practices that seem environmentally friendly, such as their effort to regrow their forests is not as effective as it seems since they are planting monocultures of non-native species. Additionally, China's ability to bribe officials in order to have their international investment projects approved further shows the predatory nature of their practices. Although China may seem like they are attempting to become more sustainable through their green energy investments and pollution cleanup programs, they are still very much solely concerned with their economic interests even if it comes at the cost of the environment.