About that pollution now

With my previous entries on how clean and green I find China, I think that some of my opinions were being misconstrued.

First off, I know that China has major pollution problems. I also realize that some of the cities here are rated the most polluted in the world (16 out of 20 of the world's cities with the worst air quality are in China). I'm not trying to deny this, I'm just trying to call attention to how much progress China is making towards cleaning things up. As I mentioned with the rapid rate of treeplanting and the institution of new, strict environmental laws, it is clear that the government of China and its people are aware of the environmental concerns they are facing. The efforts put forward by everyday citizens and the government are truly heroic and rival the western world in many of its environmental steps.

There have been western media releases of the governments shutting down chemical and coal plants that violate emissions standards so it is clear that China is starting to crack down hard on polluters. To put things in perspective, it is known that even though China is now the world's top CO2 emitter, per person, western nations emit far more CO2 than the average Chinese. I don't think its fair to outright blame China for its pollution issues - the Chinese people are not mini coal plants belching out fumes to power their appliances. To blacklist China as a nation is unfair to its people and damages the chances the west has to share its knowledge and experiences with China. I think that it is up to industry to help clean things up and soon I will write more examples about how industrial giants are now joining with the government to lead the way towards a greener China. In short, before calling China a polluter, read a little more and try to see what is happening on the ground and I think you will be surprised.

Cartoon source: http://www.sharearide.org/new%20web/gascap_body.htm