Ok. Your original post sounded as if you thought the technology to do things with low impact didn't exist (i.e., pollution was inevitable).
On a different note: So you're OK with pollution in China? You do realize that China and the US are on the same planet, right?
Airborne pollution from China is exacerbating fog in LA [1]. A beneficial example is that sands of the Sahara are a major source of fertilization in the Amazon [2].
No, I'm not OK with pollution in China at all. I'm from China!
And having lived in Germany for a while, I do believe there are clean technologies. The place where I used to live is close to a coal-burning power station. I can see the white smoke from its chimney everyday, but the quality of air in that area is insanely great (compared to what I used to have in China).
I'm not sure how much more clean technologies cost there, yet somehow Germans found a way to keep their industry within its border. I hope U.S. firms could learn something there. However I'm not so optimistic given the vast financial benefits of moving dirty industries to other continents and relatively small number of people like you guys here that worry about such things. Most people probably won't give a damn.
Moving to less regulated places like China and India saves that cost.