The Maureen and Mike Mansfield Center
Mansfield Library 4 th
Level
Missoula, MT 59812
Phone: (406) 243-2988
FAX: (406) 243-2181
Email: mansfieldcenter@mso.umt.edu
Website: www.umt.edu/mansfield
KUFM Commentary: November 17, 2010
By Deena Mansour, Associate Director of the Maureen and Mike Mansfield Center
Caught in a complicated cycle in which domestic stability is linked to job creation, China's environmental problems are mounting. Air and water pollution are ubiquitous, water shortages increasingly dangerous, and land degradation affects food security. This is relevant to us all, as China's environmental problems not only pose a risk to its domestic health and stability, but also to the global commons and the global economy.
Although Montana is in many ways a natural paradise, it also faces environmental challenges.
University of Montana researchers reap daily benefits from working in a living laboratory of one of the most intact – and challenged – ecosystems in the lower 48 states. Traditional industries that have fueled the economy of Montana for the past 150 years have in the process bequeathed a legacy of mine wastes and damaged watersheds.
Given our shared environmental concerns, the Maureen and Mike Mansfield Center is working with the U.S. Department of State on a two-way citizen exchange program for American and Chinese young professionals working on environmental issues. We will send 10 Americans to China for three weeks in May 2011. In return, 20 Chinese will travel to the U.S. the following September. The program is designed to increase mutual understanding of environmental concerns and foster the development of young leaders on both sides. The Mansfield Center is now seeking people from across Montana interested in participating.
An Equal Opportunity University

To provide a bit of background, the policies of Reform and Opening that Deng Xiaoping initiated in 1978 have brought sweeping social and economic changes to China, including the return of smallholder agriculture, a significant degree of privatization of industrial production, greater integration into the world economy, and the rise of an urban consumer class. China’s gross domestic product has grown nearly 10 percent per year over that time period, and its economy is expected to be the world’s largest within 20 years.
This tremendous economic growth has caused a corresponding increase in environmental problems. China has 16 of the 20 most polluted cities in the world and is forced to spend 170 billion dollars per year on environmental concerns. China’s leadership has come to understand that environmental protection must be a concomitant of future growth.
China’s environmental problems include a water crisis. It is estimated that 70 percent of China’s lakes and rivers are unfit for drinking, due to pollution.
Rising levels of air pollution are likewise endangering public health. A recent World Bank study commissioned by the PRC government indicated that 400,000 Chinese die each year from diseases linked to air pollution. Much of the problem is linked to coal, which accounts for 74 percent of China’s energy consumption. Although Beijing has begun to invest in cleaner energy, 90 percent of the rise in world coal consumption is from China.
Although China’s leaders recognize these problems, solving them is difficult, in large part because of the perceived imperative of maintaining rapid economic growth, whatever the environmental cost. Although the latter tension exists in nearly every society, it has been exacerbated in
China by demographic pressures and the tensions created by massive, rapid economic reform. While

Beijing knows it must address climate change and the environment, economic development and jobs creation have trumped environmental protection as a national priority. In this circumstance, China’s environmental problems may require far-reaching reforms that can only be carried out by a new generation of leaders.
With a long history of natural resource use and recovery, The University of Montana is wellpositioned to address these shared concerns. Our exchange program offers a comprehensive approach to environmental leadership through an integrated program of speakers, workshops and field trips enriched by cultural activities. Most importantly, the program helps to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of China by fostering engagement and encouraging dialogue with one another.
The Mansfield Center is seeking Montanans who are working in the field of the environment and looking to establish international partnerships and new ways of looking at shared concerns. Participants will represent a wide variety of fields, including government, NGOs, education, business, and the media.
Travel costs to China are completely covered by project funding. If you or someone you know might be interested in this adventure, you can find more information on our web site, at www.umt.edu/mansfield .
This is Deena Mansour with the Maureen and Mike Mansfield Center. Thanks for listening.