So Much for Less Traffic Pollution in Beijing

Last summer, Beijing surprised us all when the city actually managed to reign in air pollution by removing thousands of cars from the streets (and temporarily shuttering certain nearby factories) during the Olympics. The program was so successful, the Chinese government decided to keep it going, actually paying drivers to give up their cars. Unfortunately, something went wrong somewhere along the way. You see, Beijing is somehow adding 1,466 cars to the roads every single day.

From Reuters:

“The city is facing serious traffic pressure and safety risks due to the growing number of automobiles,” Song Jianguo, head of the Beijing Traffic Management Bureau, was quoted by Xinhua news agency as saying.

Beijing registered 65,970 new vehicles in the first 45 days of the year, or a daily increase of 1,466, Xinhua said.

China has introduced incentives to try to boost domestic demand but official data shows car sales in January fell 7.76 percent from a year earlier as traditionally roaring economic growth slowed.

Beijing has also introduced rules aimed at taking a fifth of private cars off the road each day, according to license plate numbers, to ease congestion and pollution.

I wonder if the exodus of Chinese villagers from rural areas affected by drought, desertification, pollution and economic depression has anything to do with this? Likely the growing middle class has a hand in it, at least. It just seems insane to have such a large increase of vehicles on the roads despite efforts to curb traffic within city limits. This definitely won’t help them get their notoriously dirty air under control.

Link [Reuters]
Photo credit: Flickr user poeloq

To Curb Pollution, China Paying Drivers to Give Up Their Cars

China’s efforts to curb air pollution by restricting driving within Beijing city limits was quite a success, so government officials sought to extend the benefits by continuing the traffic limits. Some citizens aren’t too happy with that idea, however, because of the inconvenience of finding alternative transportation. So the Chinese government has taken to offering up to $3,600 to give up heavily polluting vehicles, and even giving drivers more money to purchase cleaner cars.

From Treehugger:

The scheme by the environmental protection bureau is only one part of a massive plan to get Beijing’s more than 350,000 high-polluting vehicles out of the city during 2009. China’s capital has already banned cars from the roads on one of five weekdays based on their license plate number as part of a six-month trial that follows broader anti-traffic restrictions during the 2008 Olympic Games. The pay-off, say officials, is a 7 percent rise in blue sky days this year (although as we’ve mentioned, that statistic remains suspicious).

The initiative would take about 10 percent of the city’s 3.5-million registered cars off the roads — an amount that is estimated to account for 50 percent of the city’s notorious vehicle pollution.

Under the new rules, anyone caught driving vehicles that don’t meet Beijing’s lowest emissions standard within the city’s Fifth Ring Road or within a radius of 10-15km from the city center will be fined 100 yuan (about $12) after a three-month grace period.

The amount of compensation given to drivers giving up heavily polluted vehicles depends on the size, type and age of the vehicle – and payment will be prorated, so the sooner they give up the offending car, the more money they get.

It’s a commendable plan, especially since it will likely raise demand for cleaner cars, giving China’s auto industry a greater incentive to build them. It’s nice to see that after years of very little action – and ever-higher greenhouse gas emissions – China is doing something real to address the problem of air pollution in Beijing. Of course, there’s a long road ahead and China is still struggling to balance environmental concerns with economic progress. Let’s hope that this represents a big step forward.

Link [Treehugger]
Photo credit: Flickr user poeloq

Beijing: ‘Sorry the Garbage Plant Stinks’

It’s rare that Chinese officials actually apologize for anything.  Somehow, one way or another, it’s either someone else’s fault or it didn’t happen at all. But apparently, Beijing citizens were so riled up about the stench coming from a garbage plant in the city, officials decided to do something about it.  No, they didn’t put all of the protestors in jail, surprisingly.

From Reuters:

Several hundred people clashed with security forces in Beijing’s eastern Chaoyang district last week, complaining that noxious fumes from Gao’antun Garbage Landfill Plant were affecting their health, a Hong Kong-based rights group reported.

The local government promised residents the smell would disappear within 20 days, and that 91 million yuan ($13 million) would be spent to clean up the plant, whose fumes had kept nearby residents awake at night, the Beijing Youth Daily said.

“The smell from the Gao’antun Garbage Landfill Plant has affected the normal lives of surrounding residents. I apologize on behalf of the Chaoyang District government,” the paper quoted spokesman Yin Xiufeng as saying.

It seems that China has been growing so fast, new communities are popping up at never-before-seen rates – and the local governments aren’t communicating very well with each other.  That has spurred so many clashes between government and private citizens, who feel as if they’re being stepped on, that officials in some cases have no choice but to actually… address the problem.  Shocking.

So, they’re willing to apologize for a smelly garbage plant, but not for the insane pollution that’s killing their citizens at this very moment?

Link [Reuters]
Photo credit: Flickr user Boris van Hoytema

China Puts up Shiny Façade for the Olympics – Literally

Visitors walking down the freshly swept streets Luomashi Boulevard in Beijing don’t see the shops that are normally bustling with life on a typical day. Instead, they see an 8-foot wall, whitewashed and topped with roof pavers. It doesn’t just hide the shops. Behind them are the alleyway ‘huttong’ housing, which the government had hoped to clear out and demolish. Apparently, Chinese officials felt that the view of the shops and huttong would have put off foreign tourists, and they’ve been doing everything they can to make Beijing look nicer than it really is during the Olympic games. Residents didn’t leave in time, though – hence the wall.

From Boston.com:

“The government didn’t have enough time to get everyone to move,” said Zhang, a 40-year-old museum worker who only gave her surname. “So the wall went up for the Olympics. It is just to make a more beautiful environment for the city.”

She said she is willing to move if the developer offers her more money, though she declined to say what amount would be enough.

“I want to get on with my life,” she said. “Looking at the wall is very depressing.”

It’s yet another example of how Beijing is just putting up a façade for visitors from other nations, but this time, it’s literal. It makes you wonder how much the Chinese government cares about its people, considering that of the many promises it made during its bid for the Olympics, the only ones that were fulfilled were the ones benefiting tourists. Once again, China’s people seem to be left in the dust.

Link [Boston.com]

Beijing is Even Smoggy on Google Maps

There’s no hiding this kind of nasty funk in the air.  Beijing authorities might try to tell everyone it’s ‘mist’, but take a gander at the dirty lookin’ air hovering above the city on Google Maps.  Yuck.  How’d you like to breathe that in every day? Olympic athletes only have to deal with it during the games; Chinese citizens have to deal with it for life.

Link [Google Maps]