by Jim Yardley with reporting contributed by Chris Buckley.
This article, originally published in the New York Times in September 12, 2004, paints a picture of the larger issue I'm interested in.
The article discusses a small village located nearby a stream off of the Huai River, one of the most polluted in China. It describes some of the people in this village who have become sick, in many cases with cancer, due to exposure to contaminated water.
With regard to governmental action, the article states: "The central government promotes big solutions but gives regulators little power to enforce them. Local officials have few incentives to crack down on polluters because their promotion system is based primarily on economic growth, not public health."
Economic growth is extremely important for the well-being of the Chinese people, and the government is right to value it and reward its promotion. However, while Chinese people value their economic well-being, they value their health as well. (There are researchers attempting to calculate a concrete valuation of health and life in China, which I'll get into at another time.) There is a balance to be struck, and it will not be struck correctly if the system in place rewards promotion of one but not the other. It will also never be struck unless the true health costs of pollution are known. (And, on the flip side, unless the true economic costs of environmental conservation are known.) This provides the motivation for my research on these health costs.
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