There is nothing "scare tactics"-ish about what is happenning environmentally in China. If you dump raw toxic waste into a river, people downstream die of cancer. Is that such a reach for you ? Is it not a statistical fact that the cities of China are the most polluted on this planet thanks to the deregulation you so praise ?
Let's try this again. The United States and indeed every other country of the world, went through a phase of capitalism in which there were sweatshops, rampant pollution, and so on in their efforts to join the modern world. China is not a modern country yet - it's infrastructure and industry isn't there yet at all.
But just like wage differentials will be eliminated as China's economy grows, so too will environmental differentials; Chinese businesses will be able to afford modern, more efficient equipment.
Now, returning back to the USA - you are making an assumption that undoing regulation would mean automatically that businesses would go back to the old days of polluting. This is hysterical nonsense. It is also the kind of rubbish the Greens try to peddle on the doorstep when asking people to vote for Nader. You are also assuming that environmental regulations are the sole, or even the most important factor in determining whether it is good to do business in America or elsewhere - I would like to see your empirical evidence on that. Labour regulations and taxation...and as the Lifesaver example shows, existing "protections", seem to be more important.
Ivan
Seriously. Nature is no respecter of politics. The chemicals don't care what your political party is. Fact is, communist regimes are and have been some of the worst polluters on the face of the planet. What China has now is the *worst* of capitalism with none of the benefits of freedom - all overlaid by a communist dictatorship.