Florida businesses need China held accountable for pollution | Opinion

Florida has always been an environmentally sensitive state, and our leaders have worked hard to take steps to protect our water and quality of life in the long term.

In the same way, the country has been obsessed over the past couple of decades with making our nation as clean as possible with outlined goals for massive reductions in carbon emissions. While regulation needs to be reasonable for America’s working families, it also needs to be fair. There is great risk for Florida and the United States if we apply aggressive regulations and goals to ourselves that are not evenly applied to major economic competitors such as China.

The United States has been a leader in cutting emissions for years now, but China is by far the largest polluter, contributing more to carbon pollution than the rest of the developed world combined. For instance, China constructed six times as many coal plant projects than the rest of the globe in 2022. Allowing this kind of disparity in self-policing environmental policy creates a trade imbalance and a further national security imbalance.

U.S. industry is not only three times more carbon efficient than our world competitors, it’s also 40% cleaner than the world average. But we currently allow foreign entities like China to undercut our producers by letting their manufacturers take advantage of low environmental standards without consequence.

Toothless, non-binding international agreements won’t work. That’s why we must put tangible pressure on China and other nations to bring their regulatory action in line with our own. Some have proposed applying a foreign pollution fee to such countries, a concept that appears to be getting attention, including in the U.S. Senate. This trade approach would charge a fee on imports produced under low environmental standards and even out the disparity between America and the rest of the world.

For China, this would mean their producers would no longer be able to flood markets with cheap exports produced under few, if any, environmental standards. In holding foreign polluters accountable, the United States would also reap significant economic benefit by leveling the playing field for relatively clean American manufacturers, thus boosting their competitiveness internationally.

Furthermore, a foreign pollution fee would monetize the significant clean-industry advantage America already has and finally reward U.S. producers for doing operating in the right way.

Floridians could be the tip of the spear in addressing this issue. Gov. Ron DeSantis and the state Legislature have already moved to protect Florida from international foes in the realm of cyberspace, real estate and academia. With rising Chinese aggression, we shouldn’t leave any tool unused, including holding China and other countries with similar irresponsible regulatory policies accountable for their pollution.

Our congressional delegation is powerful, and we can take action to help take leadership on this issue. A strategy like this would put American business first, seize on a clear advantage that we already have with clean industrial standards and steward the environment.

State Rep. Carolina Amesty, R-Windermere, serves on the House Health Care Appropriations Subcommittee and the Regulatory Reform and Economic Development Subcommittee.

This opinion piece was originally published by the Tallahassee Democrat, which is a media partner of The Invading Sea.