Changhua Sun Rich


Ph.D. candidate, economics

For Changhua Sun Rich, a doctoral candidate in economics, finding solutions to the global warming crisis is a challenge with both personal and professional meaning.

A native of China, Rich has witnessed the severe environmental degradation that has accompanied China's recent economic resurgence. Outdated coal-burning power plants are creating acid rain that is damaging lakes, rivers, forests--even buildings and bicycles. And the problem goes far beyond China's borders, contributing significantly to global climate change.

Rich's research has placed her at the forefront of efforts to develop economic incentives that will encourage countries to work together to reduce their sulfur dioxide and carbon dioxide emissions--by-products of industrialization that cause acid rain and global warming. In her dissertation, Rich proposes a system of tradeable pollution permits that provides incentives for Japan and China to reduce their emissions cooperatively.

As was evident at the recent summit on global warming in Kyoto, getting countries to collaborate on these issues challenges the limits of diplomacy and international cooperation.

"Industrialized countries are saying 'We must act now to clean up carbon pollution.' But developing countries feel no obligation to participate in the cleanup, saying 'You made this mess. You clean it up,'"
says Rich.

Under Rich's system, industrialized countries get credits for providing financial and technical assistance to developing nations that are trying to reduce their emissions. Rich's proposal capitalizes on the unfortunate fact that China's acid rain is affecting Japan--providing an additional impetus for cooperation.

Rich's research has given her unprecedented access to China's top scholars, many of whom represent China in negotiations on global warming, and she recently had a paper accepted by the American Economic Review, the field's leading academic journal. Coauthor Daniel Friedman, an economics professor, says it was the fastest acceptance he'd ever seen, "with nothing but praise from referee and editor."

Rich's success is even more impressive considering she came to the United States in 1987 at the age of 32 with only a fourth-grade education. Although economic booms have clearly fueled global warming, she is excited about harnessing the power of economics to help save the environment.

"We have only one earth, one atmosphere, and all peoples are one," says Rich. "Countries can work together to enhance their common interests."

--Jennifer McNulty


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