| Description |
1 online resource (xxiii, 286 pages) : illustrations |
| Physical Medium |
polychrome |
| Description |
text file |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references and index. |
| Contents |
A note on the names of rivers in this volume -- Introduction : China as an environmental rogue state -- 1. The "China price" : police-state capitalism and the great acceleration of global consumption -- 2. "Blind growth" : scenes of planetary destruction from the twelfth Five-Year Plan -- 3. The damage done : the poisoning of China's water, soil and foods -- 4. Cooking the planet for what end? -- 5. China's engine of environmental collapse -- 6. Guanxi and the Game of Thrones : wealth, property, and insecurity in a lawless system -- 7. Grabbing the emergency brake -- 8. The next Chinese revolution -- Appendix. |
| Summary |
"As the world hurtles towards environmental oblivion, China is leading the charge. The nation's CO2 emissions are more than twice those of the US with a GDP just two-thirds as large. China leads the world in renewable energy yet it is building new coal-fired power plants faster than renewables. The country's lakes, rivers, and farmlands are severely polluted yet China's police state can't suppress pollution, even from its own industries. This is the first book to explain these contradictions. Richard Smith explains how the country's bureaucratic rulers are driven by nationalist-industrialist tendencies that are even more powerful than the drive for profit under 'normal' capitalism. In their race to overtake the US they must prioritise hyper-growth over the environment, even if this ends in climate collapse and eco-suicide. Smith contends that nothing short of drastic shutdowns and the scaling back of polluting industries, especially in China and the US, will suffice to slash greenhouse gas emissions enough to prevent climate catastrophe."-- Provided by publisher. |
| Biography |
Richard Smith has published articles on the Chinese revolution, China's transition to capitalism, and China's environment for Against the Current, New Left Review, Monthly Review and the Ecologist. He is the author of Green Capitalism: The God that Failed (College Publications. 2016), and is a founding member of the US-based group System Change Not Climate Change. |
| Local Note |
eBooks on EBSCOhost EBSCO eBook Subscription Academic Collection - North America |
| Subject |
China -- Environmental conditions.
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China. |
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Environmental conditions. |
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Environmental policy -- China.
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Environmental policy. |
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China -- Economic conditions.
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Economic conditions. |
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Authoritarianism -- China.
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Authoritarianism. |
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BUSINESS & ECONOMICS / Environmental Economics. |
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Ecology. |
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Economic history. |
| Genre/Form |
Electronic books.
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| Other Form: |
Print version: Smith, Richard. China's engine of environmental collapse. London : Pluto Press, 2020 0745341578 (OCoLC)1133125438 |
| ISBN |
9781786806635 (EPUB) |
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1786806630 (EPUB) |
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9781786806628 (PDF) |
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1786806622 (PDF) |
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9780745341552 (hardback) |
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9780745341576 (paperback) |
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9781786806642 (Kindle ebook) |
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1786806649 |
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