It is like a weird journey through time and space. Moments ago I was on the subway watching a TV advert for the book Low-carbon Conspiracy. Now I am back on the surface at my computer reading a news report "The Pearl River Delta is suffering from heavy metal pollution caused by the IT industry."

The low wages and less dignity suffered by factory workers, and the pollution of the environment are two sides of the same coin. The Pearl River Delta is the workshop of the world. 30 percent of all foreign trade is generated from this small region. But it pays a heavy environmental price. People think IT is high-tech and has nothing to do with pollution. But it has been proven that leakage of heavy metals from IT enterprises is a major problem.

The Marine Environment Quality Report of Guangdong Province has listed the Pearl River and the sea around the river mouth as a severely polluted area for seven consecutive years. The May 2009 report states the polluted area increased by 12.33 percent over the past year. 95 percent of the sea around the river mouth is now heavily polluted by heavy metals, inorganic nitrogen, and crude oil.

Are we going to continue on the path of high energy-consumption, high pollution, low wages and low environmental protection? In fact, if we do not make the transition towards a domestic demand-driven economy and change our economic growth model, China will be plagued by imported inflation. A domestic demand-driven economy, on the other hand, would mean improved wages, welfare, social security and better working conditions, as well as improved water and air quality.

The reason China has imported inflation is that the Chinese economy is dependent on foreign trade and high energy consumption. America's GDP is three times that of China but China's energy consumption in 2009 was higher than the U.S. and No. 1 in the world. If China continues to take the path of high energy consumption and dependence on foreign raw materials, it will remain dominated by foreign interests.

"The pricing power of China in the international trade system has almost collapsed," Yao Jian, speaker of China's Ministry of Commerce said on May 16. "A big problem for China right now is its loss of pricing power in commodities." What China buys is becoming ever more expensive.

In the future, energy consumption and the environment will become a major arena of competition between states. An analyst from Anbound Group predicts that if the European countries can cut their energy consumption sufficiently they will be able to control the world.

China needs crude oil, and can buy it from international market. But it is very expensive. If China doesn't change its development mode along ecological principles and continues with small profit margins from abusing the resources, it risks losing everything.

The heavy metal pollution in the Pearl River Delta Area reminds us that if we do not change our economic development model, international financial and industrial capital will be able to dictate the prices of both our raw materials and final products. The real cost of "made in China", is the super-exploitation of labor, and environmental damage.

Faced with severe environmental pollution, the low carbon route is not only the one we should take but the one we must take. It's interesting that, just when people are questioning our economic development model, the low carbon conspiracy theory has suddenly become so popular.

The conspiracy theory says the low carbon economy is an excuse for America and Europe to limit the growth of developing countries. America and Europe have completed industrialization, but developing countries are still highly dependent on high carbon products such as coal and oil. If developing countries reduce their CO₂ emissions by the same amount as developed countries, their economic development will be stunted.

Disputes about theories are normal. But in face of growing environmental problems, we should ask ourselves, isn't the price China pays for crude oil and iron ore too high? Aren't emissions reductions and environmental protection the real necessities? Must we sacrifice the lives and health of our people for the sake of economic development?

The author is a commentator with China Youth Daily.

(This article was translated by Chen Chen.)