The idea of a tariff to encourage pollution controls is very good one. Unfortunately, the U.S. govt is in too weak of a position to make such an attempt. U.S. govt officials have very recently been in high level talks with the Chinese to request that China's move away from holding the dollar be done in a gradual and orderly fashion such that the decline of the dollar will not occur in a precipitious manner. The unsustainable debt of the U.S. and the threat of a global move away from the dollar (esp. with the expected emergence of new petrocurrencies) means that China has the U.S. by the gonads and, for better or worse, the Chinese will be in full control of their own destiny.

It is unfortunate that there wasn't enough political will 3 decades ago to embark on the path of setting an example of conservation and using trade related incentives to encourage other countries to adopt environmentally sustainable economies. It appears that the opportunity to effect real change and alter the current global trajectory has passed.