(AIRAMERICA, REUTERS) China At Center Of Push For Green Globalization

China At Center Of Push For Green Globalization
By Michelle Chen
Wednesday October 14, 2009 7:17 a.m.

As the industrialized world scours the earth for clean energy sources, China is emerging as a powerhouse of eco-friendly technology. Now, a debate over tariffs on "green goods" shows that while many sectors of the US economy are striving for sustainability, labor and consumers may see green from different angles.

Ahead of the Copenhagen conference, Reuters reports that American and European Union officials are reportedly brokering a "global pact to phase out import tariffs on goods such as wind turbines, renewables and green technologies."

The deal could be a major boon for China, which is facing growing international pressure on climate change issues. Reuters quotes Jake Colvin, vice president for global trade policy at the National Foreign Trade Council: "It's a chance to jump-start U.S. trade policy and aid global climate negotiations at the same time."

Meanwhile, the New York Times notes that a new trade regulation could impose fresh tariffs on firms that import solar panels into U.S. markets. The potential extra costs, which could amount to $70 million, raise concerns that the domestic solar power sector could take a hit if Chinese-made panels become less accessible.

Yet the buzz surrounding the potential deal smacks of the kind of free-marketeering that makes labor and fair-trade activists bristle. Would dismantling trade barriers push the green sector into another global "race to the bottom," draining jobs at home and spawning sweatshops abroad?

American companies, for their part, are trying to keep clean energy industries close to home, while labor groups promote green-collar jobs as a potential offset to outsourcing in older industrial sectors.

Natasha Chart at Think Progress ponders how to juggle green growth and labor interests, and concludes that if it strikes the right balance, a deal to ease tariffs could benefit American and Chinese labor as well as consumers:

Labor advocates in the US have long been calling for a level playing field, where overseas industry had to compete under the same standards of labor and environmental protection as US industry.

Though it sounds worrying to eliminate the tariffs, if China commits to serious pollution controls (and they need a lot of nudging on that score), that might mitigate the impact. If their homegrown trend towards unionization picks up steam, they may start pulling up the floor of the global race to the bottom and grow a middle class that can help boost global demand.

As worrying as short term happenings may be, there are encouraging long term trends that may develop beyond the lip service stage. Increases in wages and living standards, and presumably air quality, are going to have to be part of China's planning if they're to stave off further civil unrest.

The bottom line is that the world simply can't afford not to fully engage China in developing international climate-change policy. And U.S. labor could see prospects for workers on both shores brighten if rising environmental standards lead to cleaner industrial production and more sustainable development.

That might in turn boost green manufacturing and ramp up green job growth in U.S. communities. Climate change is the ultimate global dilemma, and a meaningful solution can only come from mobilizing every facet of the global economy.