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CLEAN TECHNOLOGY GETS AWAY

Kevin Rudd is a big supporter of Suntech Power Holdings founder Zhengrong Shi, and last year mentioned how sad he was that the solar billionaire had based his business overseas:

That great Chinese entrepreneur in the solar industry business, Mr Shi, Zhengrong Shi and his decision, that he couldn’t actually sustain his business in Australia, had to invest in China instead.

Peter Garrett, now minister for the environment, would also have preferred that Suntech and Zhengrong Shi be based in Australia:

Not only has investment in clean technology left our shores, so has a critical mass of scientific and entrepreneurial know-how. Leading experts like Dr Zhengrong Shi and David Mills have gone to China and the United States respectively to create new wealth and deliver climate change solutions.

Australia may have dodged a bullet. The Washington Post, reporting from Gaolong, China, reveals the extent to which Zhengrong Shi’s investment in clean technology is helping locals: 

The first time Li Gengxuan saw the dump trucks from the nearby factory pull into his village, he couldn’t believe what happened. Stopping between the cornfields and the primary school playground, the workers dumped buckets of bubbling white liquid onto the ground. Then they turned around and drove right back through the gates of their compound without a word.

This ritual has been going on almost every day for nine months, Li and other villagers said.

In China, a country buckling with the breakneck pace of its industrial growth, such stories of environmental pollution are not uncommon. But the Luoyang Zhonggui High-Technology Co., here in the central plains of Henan Province near the Yellow River, stands out for one reason: It’s a green energy company, producing polysilicon destined for solar energy panels sold around the world. But the byproduct of polysilicon production—silicon tetrachloride—is a highly toxic substance that poses environmental hazards.

And the company’s connection to Suntech:

Last year, the Luoyang Zhonggui factory was estimated to have produced less than 300 tons of polysilicon, but it aims to increase that tenfold this year—making it China’s largest operating plant. It is a key supplier to Suntech Power Holdings, a solar panel company whose founder Shi Zhengrong recently topped the list of the richest people in China.

Rudd and Garrett would have us believe that Zhengrong invested overseas because Australia shuns solar cleanliness. But there are other reasons why a solar panel maker might choose China. According to polysilicon research firm executive Shi Jun:

Chinese companies are saving millions of dollars by not installing pollution recovery ... if environmental protection technology is used, the cost to produce one ton [of polysilicon] is approximately $84,500. But Chinese companies are making it at $21,000 to $56,000 a ton.

Says Jun of these companies’ environmental safeguards: “If this happened in the United States, you’d probably be arrested.”

(Via Alan R.M. Jones)

UPDATE. A subsequent WP headline:

Carbon Output Must Near Zero To Avert Danger, New Studies Say

Well, you ain’t gonna get that from solar panels, whether they’re produced in China or anywhere else:

Polysilicon companies in the developed world recycle the compound, putting it back into the production process. But the high investment costs and time, not to mention the enormous energy consumption required for heating the substance to more than 1800 degrees Fahrenheit ...

UPDATE II. Zhengrong Shi is an Operating Thetan follower of Al Gore:

The message that I tried to send the staff is our responsibility with the product we produce is to save the environment, to save the earth, so we should feel proud of what we are doing ...

Because this global warming issue is really a severe problem. You know, human beings really face a challenge to survive on this planet if we don’t control what we’re doing now. But average people, they don’t understand this.

They might understand silicon tetrachloride being dumped in their village.

UPDATE III. Hmmm:

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd had a consultancy business that turned over nearly $130,000 during his first three years in Parliament.

The consultancy, which he worked at during the run-up to his parliamentary career, helped Australian businesses wanting to set up in China.

Posted by Tim B. on 03/10/2008 at 12:45 AM
  1. Irony piled upon irony. When will this ever end?

    Posted by Spiny Norman on 2008 03 10 at 12:55 AM • permalink

  2. There are but two reasons to set up manufacturing operations in mainland China: a total lack of environmental regulation, and (effectively) slave labor.

    Posted by Spiny Norman on 2008 03 10 at 12:59 AM • permalink

  3. The concern for the ecology evidenced by governments not responsible to their citizens.

    Posted by rabidfox on 2008 03 10 at 12:59 AM • permalink

  4. #3

    The residents of the former Warsaw Pact would grimly agree.

    Posted by Spiny Norman on 2008 03 10 at 01:01 AM • permalink

  5. Commenting on Suntech’s silicon supply, Dr. Shi said, “We successfully
    developed a strong silicon supply pipeline of 530MW for 2008. Suntech’s
    silicon outlook for 2009 is even more promising. Due to the silicon supply
    contracts we signed in the fourth quarter with Asia Silicon (Qinghai), Nitol
    Solar, Renesola and a Korean conglomerate, we believe that our silicon costs
    will fall more than twice as fast as our projections of our average sales
    prices in 2009. We are confident that this will enable Suntech to expand
    production and improve profitability in 2009.”

    From the company website.  He’s crowing about falling silicon production costs.  I wonder how long this will stay up on the site.

    Posted by peter m on 2008 03 10 at 01:02 AM • permalink

  6. On the plus side, at least the toxic waste wasn’t transported in plastic bags.

    Posted by Infidel Tiger on 2008 03 10 at 01:03 AM • permalink

  7. Oh, one more reason for manufacturing in China: the yuan is held artificially low by the government to keep Chinese exports cheap.

    Posted by Spiny Norman on 2008 03 10 at 01:04 AM • permalink

  8. Is this “bubbling white liquid” called KRudd?
    If the ALP happened in the United States, they’d probably be arrested.
    #1 irony or silicony tetrachloridey?

    Posted by stackja1945 on 2008 03 10 at 01:05 AM • permalink

  9. #6 IT

    Yes, there is that. So apologists for Beijing might have something to tout.

    Posted by Spiny Norman on 2008 03 10 at 01:05 AM • permalink

  10. You mustn’t confront Rudd and Garrett with such facts.  Their heads will burst from trying to reconcile the contradictions.

    Posted by saltydog on 2008 03 10 at 01:12 AM • permalink

  11. #6 Its also not a pulp mill, so it cant be all bad for the environment. If the local kiddies die from contact with the toxic waste, at least they gave their lives to help save the planet from global warmening.

    Posted by rob w on 2008 03 10 at 01:16 AM • permalink

  12. In his pre-election debate with John Howard, Rudd stood there with a straight face and declared the following:

    But you know the reason that China uses internationally as to why they are not acting, internationally to bring down their greenhouse gas emissions? The reason they give is this: the developed countries like Australia and the United States have not signed Kyoto, have not ratified Kyoto,  and haven’t accepted binding targets themselves. There is a huge practical, quite apart from moral, responsibility, on us and the Americans to leverage the Chinese into action on this.

    In other words, do the right thing and the Chinese will follow you?  Riiight.

    Posted by cuckoo on 2008 03 10 at 01:18 AM • permalink

  13. #6 correct.

    none of this surprises me in the slightest. Remember, it’s all the fault of Australians and Americans.

    Posted by Nic on 2008 03 10 at 01:22 AM • permalink

  14. #6- That’s ‘cos they couldn’t get them for nix. Seeing as the Minister for Head Defoliation is planning a similar measure, does this mean we’ll follow the Chinks lead in reform of waste disposal regulation, thus boosting productivity? If so, I’m looking for startup funds for a nuclear waste/CFCL/dioxin/PCB and asbestos disposal company- there’s shitloads of national parks and green spaces lying idle, let’s put ‘em to use, and we might even manage to generate some interesting and valuable critters and plants as a sideline. Who says they’res no benefit in mixing controlled and free markets? If you control the Naderites, you’re free to fucking coin it in.

    BTW- this sort of ironic idiocy is becoming chronic and endemic; while out for a ride* this afternoon I passed a property with two street frontages, a pool and tennis court and about a 200 square building bristling with a/c cooling towers and satellite recievers- festooned on every side with posters for the local Greens candidate in the upcoming local election. Amazing it escapes the perception of people such as these that if the party they promote ever gained power at best their comfortable lifestyle would end- if the more extreme elements took over they’d be recycled to Gaiea through a solar-powered woodchipper. Fuckwits- hope the earth leakage fails when they power back up after Earth Hour, the Gaggio shorts out and the entire edifice increases their carbon footprint substantially by being converted by heat to CO2 in fifteen minutes flat. (BTW- love the idea from the schoolmunchkin to coerce part-time employers such as Big W to join the fun of Earth Hour- talk about creative shoplifting techniques).
    *Yes, I know, I was on a bloody pushbike, but the ADF hasn’t extended it’s diversity appreciation to having blobs on battlefields yet, but it may have some benefits- given the number of times I’ve read items about felonious fatsos being repeatedly plugged by the plod and surviving, it’s save a bundle on kevlar if troops on point were more Michael Moore and less Michael Jordan.

    Posted by Habib on 2008 03 10 at 01:28 AM • permalink

  15. Greens get blinded by their own prejudices and never see the bigger picture.

    One example in rural Albury, NSW, is a request by the city council to rinse out milk cartons and other recyclables before throwing them into the bin. The council also urges people not to wash food stuffs down the drains because it raises the phosphorus levels in waste water, causing algal booms. The council also tells people not to use water unnecessarily and to try to save every drop. If washing garbage isn’t unnecessary, I don’t know what is.

    Asking the council to reconcile these conflicting requests results in blank stares.

    Posted by Contrail on 2008 03 10 at 01:36 AM • permalink

  16. #13 Nic “Remember, it’s all the fault of Australians and Americans”.  What a slander!

    It’s all the Americans.  Australians are naturally much more quaint and loveable, like wombats.  Sure, we’re stupid and easily led, but you wouldn’t want to kill us… right bro?

    As for environmental crime in China.  Tough question.  I haven’t seen any suggestions so far about how to fix it.  Hmmmm.

    I’d go for the tried and true.  Building better connections between NGOs here and in China, and demonstrating that cleaner production is both life enhancing and economically efficient.  Thus freeing the Adam Smith and the dead hand of (enlightened) self interest.

    Posted by Bryla on 2008 03 10 at 01:47 AM • permalink

  17. When I type Zhengrong Shi into my Mandarin Translator I get Charles Montgomery Burns. Curious

    Posted by Pickles on 2008 03 10 at 01:53 AM • permalink

  18. #16 - Aye Carumba! The legends were true! Taxi drivers really do have all the answers.

    If you feel strongly about this matter, perhaps you and your troops could organise a quaint little protest in Tianamen Square?

    Posted by Infidel Tiger on 2008 03 10 at 01:53 AM • permalink

  19. #16 Yes!

    The best way to save the planet is to stop Australians from transporting their shopping in plastic bags whilst at the same time, hectoring them to first wash and the separate their refuse. That’ll show Gaia.

    Meanwhile your mates on the Left are perpetuating myths that China is a ‘victim’ and that it imposes import restrictions on US vehicles because the don’t meet still Chinese pollution requirements. Meanwhile no one even in China trusts Chinese food products, fake eggs, fake coke, fake everything.

    You go Bryla, you go girl. work through your NGO’s.

    Posted by Nic on 2008 03 10 at 02:00 AM • permalink

  20. 16- Maybe the Chinese chakra’d be set right if they changed from being communists to being commune-ists, eh Bry?

    BTW- how do you reconcile charging a set fare for trips in your cab, old son? Doesen’t the i Ching state that a reward will be dispensed in relation to the deed performed, yet charging off the meter means the same return for a ratshit or excellent performance- won’t this imbalance cause ruction?

    Posted by Habib on 2008 03 10 at 02:03 AM • permalink

  21. Rudd and Garrett would have us believe that Zhengrong invested overseas because Australia shuns solar cleanliness. But there are other reasons why a solar panel maker might choose China.

    Life is cheap in China.

    Posted by kae on 2008 03 10 at 02:05 AM • permalink

  22. Found this for people looking for green groups to study. A mover and shaker in BELCH BELP is Lizette Salmon, a bored, rich doctor’s wife (what ever happened to the pool cleaning man?). Haven’t gone through the site other than to note it reads like a bunch of eight-year-olds playing in a cubby house.

    Posted by Contrail on 2008 03 10 at 02:13 AM • permalink

  23. #15 Contrail, I’m with you there. I never understood the sense in rinsing out dogfood and other cans. They’re melted down, aren’t they? Surely that will sterilize them?

    Unless you talk with Rosie O’Dipshit, who says “Fire can’t melt steel.”

    #16 Bryla, there are already solutions how to fix it, but that would cost him more price him out of the market and he’s not prepared to do it - because he doesn’t have to in China.

    #17 Pickles, explains everything, really.

    Posted by kae on 2008 03 10 at 02:14 AM • permalink

  24. Oh shoosh. I won’t hear a bad word said about Rudd.

    Posted by Abu Chowdah on 2008 03 10 at 02:14 AM • permalink

  25. #24- I’ll not countenance any criticism of Komrade Kev either- he’s the ducks guts in my books as long as he keeps swiping beer vouchers off the coffin dodgers and mongos.

    Posted by Habib on 2008 03 10 at 02:30 AM • permalink

  26. #19 Nic “Meanwhile your mates on the Left”.. urghh mate, they’re not my mates mate.  You can’t hold me responsible for anything said or done by others.  Mate.

    #23 Kae “there are already solutions how to fix it, but that would cost him more price him out of the market and he’s not prepared to do it - because he doesn’t have to in China”  Sooner or later he does have to, or move on.  The question surely is how to make that sooner rather than later.

    Anyone here have a better idea than the combination of NGOs and free markets?

    Posted by Bryla on 2008 03 10 at 02:35 AM • permalink

  27. I’m rolling around on the floor laughing, Bryla.

    Sooner or later he does have to, or move on.

    You’re such a joker. And NGOs are going to make him.

    China couldn’t give a flying fuck about it’s people. Kevvie loves China. There won’t be any disdain there. What pressure are NGOs going to bring to bear? You talk like you have the answers. Go for it.

    Do you really think that if Australia was a socialist country we’d have all the protection that we have?

    Posted by kae on 2008 03 10 at 02:41 AM • permalink

  28. #26- Yes, the combination of NGOs and nitric acid.

    Posted by Habib on 2008 03 10 at 02:43 AM • permalink

  29. #26

    So sorry, of course, you have no mates.

    Posted by Nic on 2008 03 10 at 02:43 AM • permalink

  30. 26; A combination of angry villagers and rifles, followed by a Constitution and Bill of Rights…naaaah that shit sucks.

    Posted by dean martin on 2008 03 10 at 02:52 AM • permalink

  31. I am new to this. But is Bryla, the in-between Age columns person? Seems to follow the same lines as the Ageists.

    Posted by stackja1945 on 2008 03 10 at 02:57 AM • permalink

  32. #31- Nah, Bry’s an ageing hippy cabbie from Cairns with a messiah complex and delusions about his influence and relevance.

    He sort of resembles Ian Anderson from Juthro Tull (Aqualung era) after a two year ether and lard binge.

    Posted by Habib on 2008 03 10 at 03:07 AM • permalink

  33. Man who Rudd think solar shine from butt take dump on road ...

    Posted by egg_ on 2008 03 10 at 03:07 AM • permalink

  34. Nitric Acid.

    I drove through this last November. It was a bright yellow gas, later thought to be Nitric Acid, and I don’t think the truck had the Hazardous Materials diamonds on it. (I couldn’t see them.) Trust me, it took your breath away (and was mesmerising, wafting over the truck).

    Posted by kae on 2008 03 10 at 03:10 AM • permalink

  35. #14 Habib; you’ve driven past my place; the reason for the green signs is that I was sick of shooting the mongrels when they came around picketing the joint. Now I get invitations to green soirees where impressionable young ladies are prone to disrobe; I know it smacks of hypocrisy but what can you do?

    Posted by cohenite on 2008 03 10 at 03:11 AM • permalink

  36. 26, yeah maybe get the chinese unions to rise up and…oh that’s right.

    they already shot those guys.

    you people. Howard’s a facist dictator but the Chinese ruling junta are just misunderstood when they execute, intimidate and impose.

    go try your plane wrecking protests there you cowardly fat hippy fuck and see how you go. or just keep driving that freedom cab, man…you’re really making difference.

    Posted by anonymous guest on 2008 03 10 at 03:14 AM • permalink

  37. #16
    Building better connections between NGOs here and in China, and demonstrating that cleaner production is both life enhancing and economically efficient.

    In the same manner that Labor is rolling back Howard’s practical reforms in outback Aboriginal communities, hmmm ...???

    Posted by egg_ on 2008 03 10 at 03:14 AM • permalink

  38. # 37 egg_ lookat that.  A red herring.

    No-one got any constructive suggestions then?

    Posted by Bryla on 2008 03 10 at 03:27 AM • permalink

  39. #38
    Bryla, you’re telling the story.

    Posted by kae on 2008 03 10 at 03:29 AM • permalink

  40. Andrew Bolt reports on
    abc.net.au report that:

    Federal Environment Minister Peter Garrett will not rule out a nuclear waste facility in the Northern Territory.

    Posted by stackja1945 on 2008 03 10 at 03:29 AM • permalink

  41. #24 Say something bad about Dear Leader Lu Kewen Krudd?...not for all the silicon tetrachloride in China!

    Posted by eeniemeenie on 2008 03 10 at 03:29 AM • permalink

  42. #38 - Yep. Try skipping second dinner and have a shave, you hairy galoot.

    Posted by Infidel Tiger on 2008 03 10 at 03:29 AM • permalink

  43. Prediction - China will stop paying lip service to greenhouse gas reductions as soon as the Olympics are out of the way. China’s leaders would suffer a huge loss of face if some of those sanctimonious European nations withdrew teams in protest at China’s accelerating emissions. So it keeps talking like it will be part of post-Kyoto CO2 cuts.

    With the games out of the way, China can drop this pretence and hit the economic accelerator with both feet. Look out for Chinese scientists very publicly disputing the IPCC science. And look out for an uncomfortable K Rudd trying to simultanenously kiss Chinese arse and suck green cock.

    Posted by Contrail on 2008 03 10 at 03:30 AM • permalink

  44. Isn’t it sweet that Bryla believes in Chinese NGOs?

    Posted by Hanyu on 2008 03 10 at 03:39 AM • permalink

  45. #38- Actually we do, Peace Boy- it’s called democracy, property rights and rule of law.

    If the locals where the dumping is taking place actually owned the dirt and their ownership and amenity of that property was enforced by law, they could sue the Luoyang Zhonggui High-Technology Co back to the Han dynasty, or lease or sell their property to the buggers for a substantial fee.

    Instead they’re little more than feudal peons, and if they arc up the ruling goons will stifle their dissent with a T72; ain’t the glorious peoples revolution jus’ wunnerful?

    Posted by Habib on 2008 03 10 at 03:48 AM • permalink

  46. Bored with wombats, Bryla is now fermenting tropical fruits in the back of his cab.

    Intoxicated from opening the boot regularly to access the baggage for his Chinese passengers he feels the tug to blog.

    Brimful of confidence after talking to the Chinese in words of one or two syllables Bryla fires off his usual patty cake waffle as a China expert and even mentions Adam Smith.

    Bloggers of far higher sensibilities get their jollies and return fire with highly toxic barbs. Everyone feels great.

    Bryla squirms with delight and has another tug. These are his best friends.

    Posted by mehaul on 2008 03 10 at 03:53 AM • permalink

  47. #38 Yes, you - being a victorious fighter in the campaign against Darth Howard - could focus your energies on calling for an immediate and complete trading halt with China until such time as appropriate environmental controls are put in place.

    I mean, you DO want to protect the environment don’t you?

    Posted by anonymous guest on 2008 03 10 at 03:54 AM • permalink

  48. Given the way the PLA sneaks a finger into so many industries, I suspect Bryla’s NGO might experience the tried and true Norinco 7.62x39.

    Posted by lotocoti on 2008 03 10 at 04:00 AM • permalink

  49. #36
    yeah maybe get the chinese unions to rise up and…

    Tanks for the memories?

    Posted by egg_ on 2008 03 10 at 04:01 AM • permalink

  50. #46- Don’t know about him tiring of wombats, it appears he’s off to pester Pine Gap on Anzac Day, in the company of the mammoth marsupial Mulhearn.

    Posted by Habib on 2008 03 10 at 04:06 AM • permalink

  51. #17
    I wonder if Baldy’s lamented and fled entrepreneurial know-how has led to any life enhancing.

    Posted by lotocoti on 2008 03 10 at 04:10 AM • permalink

  52. Jesus, mehaul, and you thought I was him.
    “Demonstrating”? Long live the freedom to not have stuff demonstrated to you..

    Posted by ooh honey honey on 2008 03 10 at 04:19 AM • permalink

  53. Speaking of the Devine Ms M, considering her leanings, the fact that she’s a (dirty) blonde and appears to have an ample shirtful, how come she hasn’t hooked up with Hicksie?

    I also wonder what Mrs Moneybags back in Cairns thinks about Bry going on a saucy camping trip with such a sweetie?

    Posted by Habib on 2008 03 10 at 04:28 AM • permalink

  54. #50
    I’m yet to understand how reducing the capability to detect and decrypt launch and mid-course telemetry improves world peace.
    That is unless Bryla is a big fan of an unconfirmed launch under fire policy.

    Posted by lotocoti on 2008 03 10 at 04:28 AM • permalink

  55. #53 - Hicksie may be a bloated, goat fucking, mullet sporting bogan from Adelaide who’d stick his dick in a luke warm chiko roll, but he’s still got standards.

    Posted by Infidel Tiger on 2008 03 10 at 04:33 AM • permalink

  56. #52 OHH. IOUONE.

    Posted by mehaul on 2008 03 10 at 04:34 AM • permalink

  57. #50 53; mulhearn has no credibility at all; I mean, a human shield without one bullet hole; how fair-dinkum is that?

    Posted by cohenite on 2008 03 10 at 04:43 AM • permalink

  58. Suntech’s Public Relations
    Department Issues a Statement:

    Many wonders can be traced
    To the place where Suntech’s based;
    Cats can swim and dogs can talk,
    Rodents fly and land sharks walk.

    What a loss! Your mutant zoo
    Could have had a kangaroo
    Quoting Keats and eating glass,
    Passing luminescent gas. 

    Please ignore those nasty rumors:
    Farmers with enormous tumors,
    Children without genitalia…
    You’re just envious, Australia!

    Posted by lyle on 2008 03 10 at 04:49 AM • permalink

  59. #57- I draw your attention to the last paragraph of this earlier post- she could have a couple of TOWs and a Hellfire wedged in her arse, and if they went off anyone within range would pass it off as the felafel at lunch-time.

    Posted by Habib on 2008 03 10 at 04:50 AM • permalink

  60. #58
    SmLyle!

    Posted by kae on 2008 03 10 at 04:53 AM • permalink

  61. Maybe some of those Sunni snipers lined Mulhearn up in Bagdhad a few years ago, and on closer inspection through the scope thought ‘pig’ and realised it was against their religion.

    Saved by her own bacon.

    Posted by mehaul on 2008 03 10 at 05:31 AM • permalink

  62. “If this happened in the United States, you’d probably be arrested.”

    That’s if you survived being shot by the angry land owner.

    #25 - as long as he keeps swiping beer vouchers off the coffin dodgers and mongos

    I guess that would turn Kev into “Mong the Merciless”?

    Posted by mr creosote on 2008 03 10 at 05:36 AM • permalink

  63. #58, Lyle,

    Oh well done.  You’re a talented guy, relevant, too, and it’s always a treat to find a new work.

    Posted by saltydog on 2008 03 10 at 05:51 AM • permalink

  64. #62- Waxy wilts and wimps out after whipping by welfare wonks.

    Posted by Habib on 2008 03 10 at 05:57 AM • permalink

  65. #61 mehaul; another reason for disliking islam.
    #59 Habib; if I understand you correctly, she cannot be killed by conventional means; perhaps the cia can help; see

    Posted by cohenite on 2008 03 10 at 06:00 AM • permalink

  66. Gotta say though that an old fart who can come up with a line like this:- “I’m not going to wear this. I’m not going to let a popinjay of a - I could go worse than that - but I’m not going to let a bloke who tucks a little white hanky up his sleeve do this.” is worth a sling of a couple of grand.

    What’s he need with a hanky when he’s got a pinky though?A serviette?

    Posted by Habib on 2008 03 10 at 06:01 AM • permalink

  67. sorry; I did say cia; try again

    Posted by cohenite on 2008 03 10 at 06:04 AM • permalink

  68. #65

    #59 Habib; if I understand you correctly, she cannot be killed by conventional means

    Silver bullet?
    Oaken stake through the heart?

    Posted by kae on 2008 03 10 at 06:14 AM • permalink

  69. #68 Kae, one of these may work.

    Daylight?
    A garlic daiquiri?

    Posted by Irobot on 2008 03 10 at 06:26 AM • permalink

  70. #69 If “The Wizard of OZ” hasn’t led me astray, water should work.

    Posted by Ash_ on 2008 03 10 at 06:31 AM • permalink

  71. Holy water!

    Posted by kae on 2008 03 10 at 06:36 AM • permalink

  72. Now that would definitely work Kae!

    Posted by Ash_ on 2008 03 10 at 06:37 AM • permalink

  73. In China, a country buckling with the breakneck pace of its industrial growth, such stories of environmental pollution are not uncommon. But the Luoyang Zhonggui High-Technology Co., here in the central plains of Henan Province near the Yellow River ...

    (wronwright consults his three Time-Life archaelogy books he bought at the Friends of the Cincinnati Library book sale for $2 each)

    It’s a sad thing that he chose this location for his factory.  The Yellow River was one of four river areas where farming and civilization began many thousands of years ago.  The others were ...

    (wronwright flips quickly through book on First Farmers)

    ... Nile, Tigris/Euphrates, and Indus.

    (wronwright sits back with a smug smile, satisified that other readers are likely comparing his knowledge to MentalFloss’s.  Maybe he will follow this with a poem, to steal some of lyle’s admirers)

    Posted by wronwright on 2008 03 10 at 06:41 AM • permalink

  74. #68 69; how about a urine bomb?

    Posted by cohenite on 2008 03 10 at 06:47 AM • permalink

  75. Wron, you’re brillaint. Have you been under the tutelage of Mental Floss?

    Posted by kae on 2008 03 10 at 06:48 AM • permalink

  76. #73 Wronwright. Go nowhere. You, Floss and Paco and several others are all Americanos.

    And you’re all individually illuminating, mixing humour with the high brow.

    It would be a much lesser blog without you all.

    But then we do have whatsisname… you know who I mean.

    vroom, vroom welcome to Cairns Ms Tai Chi.

    Posted by mehaul on 2008 03 10 at 07:00 AM • permalink

  77. #38
    Doubtless, you dropped in on our swarthy outback bretheren on your way out to pulling off your Pine Crap-stunt, non?

    Posted by egg_ on 2008 03 10 at 07:02 AM • permalink

  78. #35 Cohenite. You give them what they want on the basis that they know the seed is not GM.

    Posted by mehaul on 2008 03 10 at 07:26 AM • permalink

  79. Garlic daquiri’d kill me I think.

    Posted by kae on 2008 03 10 at 07:30 AM • permalink

  80. Boy, there’s always something, isn’t there?

    With all the engineering expertise around you’d think they could come up with some clean-livin’ manufacturin’ but no!

    Just waaaay too hard…*sigh*

    Posted by carpefraise on 2008 03 10 at 08:49 AM • permalink

  81. #45, why not kidnap a Fairfax columnist and slip a substitute column (written by you)into their slot?

    You’d have people rubbing their eyes in ecstasy and amazement at the sudden improvement in metaphorical usage, not to mention contumely finally expressed in a rip-roaringly engaging fashion - for a change.

    Students would have to tattoo it onto their left arms and show it to tram inspectors to allow them on public transport. It would be great!

    Hmmm, I realise I’ve phrased the above query in a suspiciously Freudian manner.

    (Pause)

    Oh, well.

    Posted by carpefraise on 2008 03 10 at 09:00 AM • permalink

  82. #38. Bryla. You have asked for some constructive suggestions.

    1. Go to the Salvation Army and enquire as to their need for free assistance to serve soup each day.

    Get back to us if they don’t need you.

    Posted by mehaul on 2008 03 10 at 09:16 AM • permalink

  83. If Bryla thinks that NGOs will convince the Chinese government to stop polluting, then leave him be; this is merely a sign that he’s retreating further and further into his fantasy world.

    Posted by The_Real_JeffS on 2008 03 10 at 09:20 AM • permalink

  84. #73: I, for one, am greatly impressed by Wronwright’s expansive knowledge of the birth of civilization, and as a result of his comments, I have revised some of my own erroneous views. For example, I had always thought that the cradle of civilization was Dutch Buffalo Creek in North Carolina.

    Posted by paco on 2008 03 10 at 09:42 AM • permalink

  85. #75 kae -

    Wron, you’re brillaint. Have you been under the tutelage of Mental Floss?

    Um, why no kae.  It’s just my natural intelligence.  It’s a curse really.

    (wronwright works hard to appear humble, yet displays his three archaelogy books with the front covers appearing outwards, making sure everyone sees them)

    Posted by wronwright on 2008 03 10 at 09:48 AM • permalink

  86. It sounds like a waste of white liquid to me.  Can’t it be added to pet food or something?

    I note also that there’s no limit on radioactive waste in hamburger meat yet, another lost opportunity.

    Posted by rhhardin on 2008 03 10 at 10:17 AM • permalink

  87. Surely they could paint the insides of children’s lunchboxes with The White Liquid, and sell them to Toys R Us.

    Impressive, wronwright.  But, where is the Indus, anyways?

    Posted by ushie on 2008 03 10 at 10:59 AM • permalink

  88. Where is the Indus?  Um, well, that’s a good question.  A very good question.

    (wronwright frantically thumbs through archaeology books, which are absolutely of no help whatsoever due to maps that list old kingdoms, not current countries)

    You asked where is the Indus?  By that you mean the Indus River.  Not some other Indus.

    (damn it, not one indication of where that damn river is.  wronwright sees the Indus on a land mass that is big, and yet pointy at the end.  And yet, he’s clueless.  Is that Thailand?)

    Of course, if you were to ask where is the Yellow River, I would naturally say it’s in Thailand China. 

    (why don’t they place current country names and boundaries on these maps?  I mean to say, Elam!  There is no Elam anymore.  Mitanni.  Hurrites.  That’s of no help.)

    Or let’s say the Nile.  The Nile, as I can certainly attest, is in Thailand Egypt.  But, of course, the Indus is NOT in Thailand, I mean Egypt.

    (wronwright checks the publication dates of his reference books.  1973!  Hell, that might have been the names of those countries back then.  But where is the Indus now?  wronwright wonders what Mentalfloss’s phone number is?)

    So, to conclude what we’ve concluded up to now, the Yellow River is in China, the Nile is in Egypt, and neither of them are in Thailand.  And same goes for the Indus.  I believe.

    Posted by wronwright on 2008 03 10 at 11:20 AM • permalink

  89. I’m way late to this, but I really don’t think NGOs will do much good in China.  There isn’t enough there yet for them to steal.

    Posted by RebeccaH on 2008 03 10 at 11:36 AM • permalink

  90. Hmmmmm

    What’s really appalling?

    The vast lake building up behind the Three Gorges Dam in China is so polluted, and becoming more polluted by the day, that it’s a liquid toxic waste dump.

    Posted by memomachine on 2008 03 10 at 11:36 AM • permalink

  91. Psst, wronwright.  *whispers*  Pakistan.

    Posted by RebeccaH on 2008 03 10 at 11:38 AM • permalink

  92. What I meant to say is the Nile is in Pakistan.  And possibly the Yellow River too.

    Posted by wronwright on 2008 03 10 at 11:49 AM • permalink

  93. #90

    The vast lake building up behind the Three Gorges Dam in China is so polluted, and becoming more polluted by the day, that it’s a liquid toxic waste dump.

    Ah, no matter. It’ll go through the hydro-electric generators just as well…

    China is the most toxic place on Earth, but all I hear is blame being placed on American companies who buy from the Chinese. The Communist junta running the country never come under criticism from the Left.

    Posted by Spiny Norman on 2008 03 10 at 12:19 PM • permalink

  94. Bryla was serious with that NGO comment? Hilarious.
    The only suggestion I would have is to hit China in the pocketbook - but I don’t see the democracies ending trade with China just so they start treating their people better.
    The Chinese government is not answerable to their people, so they are not answerable to anyone in the world. Without that accountability, there is no engine to force reforms for labor and the environment. And I am not talking about carbon and all that b.s., I mean real environmental issues - the poisoning of the air and water.

    Posted by Latino on 2008 03 10 at 01:03 PM • permalink

  95. Pakistan?  I didn’t know there were rivers there—only nukes?

    Posted by ushie on 2008 03 10 at 01:11 PM • permalink

  96. So, our CO2 has to be zero. Does that include breathing? I guess so: zero is zero, after all.

    So, I strongly invite these noble scientists to lead by example.

    Posted by Urbs in Horto on 2008 03 10 at 01:34 PM • permalink

  97. Insensitive Tiger 55:

    Hicksie may be a bloated, goat fucking, mullet sporting bogan from Adelaide who’d stick his dick in a luke warm chiko roll, but he’s still got standards.

    Hey!  Keeping these goats pregnant is a big job!  Y’gonna begrudge me a little bit of temp-labor exploitation? 

    Ens.Sincerity 85:

    (wronwright works hard to appear humble…)

    Snort!  As he could ever hope to surpass the superlative supremacy of the **** humility of PACO**** !!!!  Let’s all pause, doff our hats, and quietly contemplate the magnificence that is the **** humility of PACO**** !!!!
    Right then, back to work.

    Posted by formerly Huck Foley on 2008 03 10 at 01:35 PM • permalink

  98. “So, our CO2 has to be zero. Does that include breathing? I guess so: zero is zero, after all.

    So, I strongly invite these noble scientists to lead by example.”

    Seriously, they might as well start signing the contracts to set up the extermination camps now.  That’s the only way you’re going to get carbon near zero - the wholesale extermination of the human race.  I know that idea appeals to many in the green movement but personally, I think there are smarter and more ethical alternatives.

    Posted by kcom on 2008 03 10 at 02:03 PM • permalink

  99. Stoop Davy Dave formerly,

    Are you kidding?  paco has nothing—NOTHING!—on my humility.  My humility is honed to a Cathar monk’s luster.  The Amish stop me with their black buggies blocking the gravel roadway to ask me how I affect such a modest demeanor.

    Oh sure, maybe compared to you paco shows a grand gesture of humility.  But he’s not in my league bucko.  NOT IN MY LEAGUE I say.

    Now out of my way so I can continue my downturn look of modesty.

    Posted by wronwright on 2008 03 10 at 02:16 PM • permalink

  100. Huck, Wron: Really, I am not worthy to fasten the shoelaces on your sneakers (Ha! Top that for humility, suckers! Admires blush of modesty in mirror, enhancing same with light face-pinching).

    Posted by paco on 2008 03 10 at 02:27 PM • permalink

  101. There isn’t enough there yet for them to steal.

    That’s because the Chinese government stole it first.

    Posted by The_Real_JeffS on 2008 03 10 at 02:57 PM • permalink

  102. Rudd “helped Australian businesses wanting to set up in China”.
    Correctly it reads: “connected Australian businesses with corrupt Chinese officials”.

    Posted by Honkie Hammer on 2008 03 10 at 06:19 PM • permalink

  103. “The consultancy, which he worked at during the run-up to his parliamentary career, helped Australian businesses wanting to set up in China.”

    Politicians should not work as consultants, at least until they quit politics. If it was a Coalition member that did this, there would be howls of outrage and accusations of corruption.

    Posted by daddy dave on 2008 03 10 at 07:09 PM • permalink

  104. You forget the progressive perspective: It’s Not Pollution If It’s Only Poisoning Brown People…

    Posted by richard mcenroe on 2008 03 10 at 09:14 PM • permalink

  105. (in a wee, small voice, barely a whisper, really; MentalFloss sidles out of the thread saying: “#16 means well, doesn’t He?...I mean, it was a suggestion of a possible hint, or adumbration, if you will, of a strategem; an idyllic vivification of an idea, one might say, with a soupçon of innocent idealism which, while stillborn, held for brief, almost kairotic moment, the barest semblance of substantiality as a trajectory of thought whose terminal ballistic might—in the best of all possible worlds—actually fall somewhere in the vicinity of the mark…?)

    Posted by MentalFloss on 2008 03 11 at 01:20 AM • permalink

  106. From what I understand of photovaltaics energywise, they amount to buying 20 years of cheap, dirty chinese power (amount needed for production) at US prices, using US tax dollars for subsidies.

    Posted by aaron_ on 2008 03 11 at 08:22 AM • permalink

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