Implement strict green laws

In our rush to make life easier, we have decided to go blindly into the future without as much as paying a thought to the ramifications. The results have been great profits for individuals who have invested their time and money in ventures that have improved their (and some others') quality of life. The side effects in many cases have been polluted air and water that all of us have to endure.

A view of the city skyline in the haze is seen in Beijing's central business district. [Photo/Agencies]

But if we can create pollution, we can reduce it too. The problem is time and money. And time and money happen to be the investment that the creators of the pollution claim to have made to make life better for all, which means they have made a mess, to some or a large extent, in all cases.

The United States suffered from problems similar to what China is facing today. The results left scars on the land, dirty air and water. The US government finally opened its eyes to the problems and told industries to cut down their polluting emissions, for which it implemented strict laws requiring clean air and water. The US government created the Environmental Protection Agency to oversee these laws. All the states in the country follow the regulations, and have added additional requirements that enhance the environmental laws. The end result is cleaner air and water.

So who paid for the clean air and water? The answer: the costs for keeping the environment clean eventually became the burden of the people. The equipment needed to create a healthy lifestyle has been added to the cost of making what we want.

The materialistic world that we live in is the cause of most of the pollution. If you wish, you can move away from cities and industrial regions causing the problem. I'm sure you can find places that are yet to be affected by the pollution. However, you will soon realize how really small the world is when pollution catches up with us through the wind and rain.

It will take time and money to solve the problems the environment faces today. But the longer we wait to solve these problems, the worse they will become and the more they will cost to solve. What the Chinese government should do is to immediately implement strict laws that require clean air and water.

SDIvester, on China Daily website

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(China Daily 09/18/2013 page9)