Read here. Chinese air pollution is horrendous. Chinese environmental standards are non-existent, or not enforced. This is a competitive advantage for non-Chinese companies that move their factories to China - not only to avoid paying fair wages, but also to avoid the tougher environmental standards and .......
enforcement found in these companies home countries. By taking advantage of China's cheap and dirty electric power generation, these companies lower their manufacturing costs while adding to the gross national pollution of China and the global atmosphere. Apple of iPod and iPhone fame is no different than any other non-China company that moves production to China. They locate there for cheap labor and to freely pollute without government regulation or penalties.
Interestingly, as Al Gore and Apple move production facilities to countries with the worst environmental and pollution records, they choose to publicly defect from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce over a disagreement about taxing the non-polluting trace gas, CO2. Al Gore and Apple want smaller U.S. companies and millions of U.S. consumers to pay a massive 'cap & trade' CO2 tax, which, by the way, Apple won't pay since they moved their production to China, the world's worst polluter.
Instead of leaving the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, shouldn't Apple and Al Gore leave China now? Bring the jobs back to the U.S. and help reduce the Chinese "deadliest" air pollution.
