Ethics and the Environment One of the

Ethics and the Environment One of the most eminent challenges societies around the world is to find practical and economic ways to bring the benefits of economic growth to the developing world without damaging the environment. Whereas Beijing is the number one in the least of air polluters, Mexico City, the world's second largest city ranks on place four of the megacities with the most polluted air of any major metropolitan area in the world.

There should be a combined consecutive approach of scientists and politicians guided by principles of ethics in government to make to transform the recommendations the scientific world operative. I have chosen to review the following articles: Platt, Holden K. (9 July 2009) on "Chinese Air Pollution Deadliest in World." Platt wrote this article for the "National Geographic News" which is a magazine published by the National Geographic Society, based in Washington, D.C., USA. Existing since 1888 it is one of the largest non-profit organizations.

Its interests include geography and national science, the promotion of environmental and historical conservation, and the study of world culture and history. Its historical mission is "to increase and diffuse geographic knowledge while promoting the conservation of the world's cultural, historical, and natural resources (see Homepage of General Geographic). It is certainly a reputable organ in the above-mentioned areas. Platt's audience are people with a profound interest in environmental issues, many of them most likely with a scientific and/or environmental background.

This being said, the author is certainly a reliable source of information in the field of environmental issues. The author's focus is exclusively on the situation in China. Contrary to the findings of the author of the "Ethics Environment Case Study," Platt's view of the situation in China is far less optimistic.

He does not give credit to any accomplishments from the China's government to improve the air pollution in Beijing in preparation for hosting the 2008 summer Olympics - which might be due to the fact that his article was written one year earlier. There seems to be a certain (justified) bias of Holden Platt when devoting a whole paragraph (p.

1) on the question whether there has been suppressed information by "China's State Environmental Protection Agency engineered the removal of statistics, the Financial Times reported, because the government feared the figures could trigger social unrest." I find it also very indicative of Platt's personal opinion of the issue that he stresses - that despite World Bank's strong financial support of China in an amount of roughly 40 Billion U.S.

dollars, along with expert advice project to promote sustainable economic development - "Internet access to certain World Bank reports on China are now being blocked in China (p. 1). The second article I have focused on is by Molino.