China grows up, with coal

Cancer is now the leading cause of death in China:

As is common with many countries as they industrialize, the usual plagues of poverty—infectious diseases and high infant mortality—have given way to diseases more often associated with affluence, such as heart disease, stroke, and cancer.

Dirty air, chiefly from coal-burning power plants, is said to be the leading cause, but there are other problems related to a lack of environmental regulations:

In rural areas, liver, lung, and stomach cancers each accounts for close to 20 percent of cancer mortality. Liver cancer is more than three times as likely to kill a Chinese farmer as the average global citizen; for stomach cancer, rural Chinese have double the world death rate. These cancers are linked to water polluted by chemicals and sewage, along with other environmental contaminants.

And to think there are many politicians in Washington who would love to do away with the U.S. EPA.