This afternoon I was watching the interview we shot yesterday because Jeff had to take the tapes back to Amherst to make copies of them, and as I was transcribing the interviews something Hongyan said prompted me to make a really cool connection that kind of legitimizes this whole thing to me. It is an idea that connects my affinity for environmental education and my trust in economics as The Problem Solver.

The thing that Hongyan said to us yesterday was about the environmental movement in China: “We can say that it will get stronger and stronger.” She said this in the context of talking to us about Chinese demand for a cleaner environment. She also made the connection between the Olympic-inspired “blue sky days” and a greater demand in the public for cleaner air. Bingo!

The Environmental Kuznets Curve describes the relationship between pollution and economic development in an inverse U-shape, with the amount of pollution decreasing as income increases. It seems like there is a lot of controversy about whether this U-relationship is as clear as some say, but I think this idea generally makes sense to me.  The controversy has been about using this Kuznets curve to prescribe policy. It’s general idea makes sense to me: valuing the environment is a good that is only demanded once basic needs are met.

But, the connection that I made is that the tipping point on the Environmental Kuznets Curve is dependant on environmental education. People need to first realize that the environment is bad and could be better, then also need to know how to take steps to make this happen. This is only possible if there is a base line level of environmental knowledge, and connects to Ma Jun’s China’s Water Pollution Map, and the importance of the collection and the dissemination of environmental information is highlighted. Information needs to first be collected, and then also be accessible. Ma’s Water Pollution Map disseminates information that is collected by the Chinese government about the environmental issues in China and makes it accessible through the Internet. The Water Pollution Map is also used to submit reports about pollution, but I don’t know about it’s efficacy as a reporting mechanism when so many don’t have Internet access.