China Environmental Ethics

Industrial pollution is a major problem in China, where massive, low-cost manufacturing has taken priority over environmental protection. But that may finally be changing as awareness about the impact of China's rapid industrialization grows. One of the people working to increase that awareness is Chinese activist Ma Jun. He founded a nongovernmental organization, the Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs, to fight factory pollution by means of transparency, accessible data, and public information. The IPE and its American partner, the Natural Resources Defense Council, say Western consumers have a moral responsibility and ethical obligation to help solve China's pollution problem, since the world made a decision to concentrate so much of its manufacturing in one country.