Beijing Olympics hang under a clound of smog
Air quality levels in Beijing are still far from World Health Organization standards. From ABS-CBN news:
Beijing's air quality is still falling well short of international guidelines, despite desperate efforts to clean the Olympic host city's skies before the Games, a report by Greenpeace said Monday.However, the city has met many of its commitments on environmental issues and will leave an important legacy for Beijing after the August Games, the organisation said in a report.
"Beijing's current air quality still faces major challenges presented by the country's booming economy and the rapid increase in car ownership," said the report, released on a day when thick haze shrouded the city centre.
"Although Beijing has undertaken factory upgrades to improve air quality in the city, more could have been done to move the city towards clean production methods."
More info on the green Olympics page of Greenpeace China's website.
Also see the BBC report "Lingering Pollution Worries in China". (They did their own tests.)
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Comments
After reading the report mentioned above, I doubt if Greenpeace China is really a part of Greenpeace International. Greenpeace China is so supportive to the China government and doesn't have the least critical view of China government's policies. What the China government did and is doing for Beijing's environment is just a "make-up" for the Beijing Olympic Games rather than a nation-wide policy change.
For example, while the Beijing government moved away the polluting factories from the city (quite a lot of them are resettled just outside Beijing), it endorsed the construction of a huge Taiwanese PX company in Xiamen, Fujian Province. Greenpeace China didn't say a word about it. Neither did it do anything about it.
I'm always a supporter of the activism of Greenpeace International. I appreciates its independence from government and big business. But why does Greenpeace China becomes a dog wagging its tail to the China government?
I find it very disappointing!!
Posted by: hevdevil | August 6, 2008 11:55 AM