Lanzhou, one of China's most polluted cities
The following is a statement released by Xinhua regarding the Party's new plan to fight air pollution. While everyone in China agrees that air pollution is a serious problem, reducing carbon emissions is a difficult task, especially for an economy that is still very much reliant on low-end manufacturing. The majority of China's electric power is supplied by coal, and many of the industries driving economic growth are particularly dirty and polluting. While some reform is possible, and most Chinese will continue to agitate for more earth-friendly policies, it is unclear if the government can significantly reduce emissions without simultaneously hamstringing economic growth.
It's also worth noting that many of the emissions-heavy industries that are polluting China's skies were sent to China precisely because they are so dirty. When lawmakers came down on emissions and pollution in the US and other developed countries, the dirtiest steps of production were simply off-shored, sent to countries where regulations were looser (and the people too desperate for investment to complain about the health hazards).
While Chinese certainly have reason to be concerned with the country's severe environmental problems, the lack of regulations and laws controlling pollution are one of the main reasons China has attracted so much investment. In fact, if the annual damage done to the environment was subtracted from China's annual GDP, a frightening trend would appear: China's economy hasn't grown at all the past two decades. While the damage done to the environment in the long run is undeniable, it is just as true that China's environment is footing the bill of its incredible development, making China's "economic miracle" possible. Unfortunately, rapid development and rampant pollution go hand-in-hand. For the foreseeable future, China will remain reliant on these carbon-intensive industries. As many economists have noted, environmentalism is a luxury good, one which only developed countries can afford.
Fighting atmospheric pollution - the Party gets serious
September 12, 2013, 10:08 PM Source: XinhuaNetReporter: Wu Dingping
On September 12th, the State Council formally published its "Atmospheric Pollution Prevention Plan" online; not only does the plan bring up specific criteria for atmospheric pollution, but it also pushes for ten different types of measures, clear goals, detailed contents, and realistic steps, fully capturing the determination of the new administration's willingness to fight atmospheric pollution.
The past few years, the public's concern with atmospheric pollution has grown day by day. Especially since last winter, when many areas of China experienced long periods of smoggy weather, atmospheric pollution has been seen as a very serious problem. Not even three months after the new administration was formed, the government responded to the concerns of society by making adjustments in the industrial sector, eliminating out-of-date industry, perfecting standards of law, fostering regional cooperation, and ten other measures that have helped fight atmospheric pollution.
The "Atmospheric Pollution Prevention Plan" is not just a widening of the previous "10 Initiatives". Rather, it is a complete upgrade of the atmospheric pollution prevention plan. The report, which is nearly 10,000 characters long, stressed the importance of measures that "reduce" and "eliminate", "optimization" and "upgrading", and "technological innovation". In addition, the plan clearly stipulates that "strictly stop the establishment of excess programs", "prohibit nuclear plants that seriously exceed the necessary capacity", "punish, according to the law, construction projects whose environmental effects have not been evaluated or do not match current regulations"...the Party's tough attitude on atmospheric pollution is very clear, and the plan is very realistic.
In addition, the plan stressed in particular the "splitting up of goals and tasks", stating that the State Council will formulate a system for assessing performance: "With regards to local governments which have not been assessed, groups from the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Supervision Bureau will meet with the relevant officials at the provincial level." The requirement that specialized groups will perform assessments is one of the major changes in the new plan, showing "just how serious" the new administration is.
At this year's Two Meetings, while answering Chinese and foreign journalists' questions, Li Keqiang responded to questions from the French newspaper "Le Figaro" regarding air quality, promising that "With regards to this long-term problem, we will make even greater efforts to control the situation. Especially with regards to those areas heavily affected,...we will reduce the pollution numbers, and determinedly remedy the matter." From this promise, to the "10 Initiatives", to today's "Atmospheric Pollution Prevention Plan", we can sense the genuine will of the new administration to clean up the air for the people, making the Air Pollution Prevention Plan all the more attainable.
Source (Chinese) http://news.xinhuanet.com/comments/2013-09/12/c_117349231.htm
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