Chinas Engine of Environmental Collapse

As the world hurtles towards environmental oblivion, China is leading the charge. The countrys CO2 emissions are more than double those of the US yet its GDP is just two-thirds as large. China leads the world in solar and wind energy generation but its building new coal-fired power plants even faster than renewables. The countrys lakes, rivers and aquifers are severely polluted. Twenty percent of Chinas farmland has been declared too toxic to farm. Yet this socialist government still prioritizes growth over the environment. Why is Chinas environmental crisis so much worse than normal capitalism most everywhere else, and why cant Chinas fiercely authoritarian government suppress pollution from its own industries? Richard Smith argues Chinas economy is driven by extra-economic nationalist-industrialist imperatives which are more powerful than the maximization of profit. Yet both Western capitalism and Chinas communist-capitalism are racing each other to apocalypse. He contends that nothing short of drastic industrial shutdowns and retrenchments, especially in China and the US, will suffice to slash emissions enough to save the planet - but implementing such policies without precipitating economic collapse will require a transition to ecosocialism. This book brings together environmental science, political science, economics and sociology in a uniquely comprehensive analysis that will change the debate from market meliorism to the need for radical system change.