General Counsel of the EPA

I signed up for another environment round table AmCham event over lunch today for the sole reason that the General Counsel of the EPA was speaking. It was a fairly small group and he was surprisingly young. The older I get, the more I find everyone surprisingly young.

I was again questioning my decision when one individual at the table commented that when she moved back to the States, she would probably move to Florida. A gentlemen in his mid-fifties sporting shockingly black hair and a grey and black scraggly beard and mustache added "it will probably be underwater in a few years along with New York. If we don't do something to stop Global Warming . . . ." Here we go. Waiter, a martini please. Thankfully the majority of my table mates were not up for the discussion, and we promptly changed the subject to corruption in China, something everyone can agree on.

The General Counsel's speech was good, if not a bit general. He is in China at the moment to learn more about the Chinese regulatory framework and to offer the EPA's assistance where ever it is welcomed.

Apparently most of the nuts stayed at home, my one table mate notwithstanding, because the question and answer session was fairly instructive and confirmed much of my thinking on the subject of environmental issues in China (in my personal dictionary, a genius is someone generally in agreement with my beliefs and an idiot is someone who thinks New York will be under water in five years. While it might be "constructive" to consider beliefs other than my own, many times I'm not up for "constructive" so I change the subject).

One person asked the GC for his thoughts on how to handle two new coal burning power plants coming on line everyday while businesses are achewing the more expensive but cleaner alternative options. The GC explained that the EPA's approach is to provide its Chinese counterparts at CEPA with low cost technology and techniques which the government can install or require to be installed at the time the plant opens. Makes sense to me.

There was the question about Beijing's inability to control local governments as well as the criteria used to evaluate a local official's performance (i.e., economic indicators rather than environmental criteria). The GC acknowledged the problem and explained that his office is working with the Chinese government to develop other criteria to measure job performance.

Finally, the issue of air quality arose. The GC said there is a perception internationally that the EU has the most stringent automotive emissions and fuel efficiency standards; however, all cars built in the EU and eventually sold in the US must be modified to meet our heightened requirements. A PR problem.

China on the other hand proudly boasts that within the next 10 years, all automobiles licensed in China must meet European standards. This should lay to rest the ridiculous argument that "you can't export an American car to China: it does not satisfy the emissions standards".

I appreciated his comments because they were grounded in reality and facts rather than pie in the sky optimism. The Chinese are not suddenly going to shut down all their coal burning factories in favor of solar energy. But we can offer them ways to minimize pollution, and we can offer them our experience - good and bad - in drafting and enforcing environmental legislation