China's face

  As image-conscious as China is, they must pour over every column inch from the Western news media.  I know I do.  So here's a place to paste the sino news items from your home press. 

You think?   

China urgently needs a green plan of its own, says premier [/b]
Last Updated: Friday, April 27, 2007 | 10:46 AM ET
CBC News

China needs to take immediate action on its environment because the situation is "quite grim," the country's premier said Friday after pledging to curb policies that benefit industrial polluters.

Premier Wen Jiabao told a meeting of government leaders that the Chinese government plans to bring an end to tax breaks and discounts on land and electricity for industries that pollute the environment or consume large amounts of energy.

"More work on energy conservation and emissions reduction is urgently required to deal with global climate change," Wen said.

"Our country is a major coal producer and consumer and reducing polluting emissions is a responsibility we should bear."

Wen said the Chinese government also should set up a system to make polluters pay for damage done to the environment while rewarding businesses that promote and produce clean energy.

"We must clearly recognize that the situation the nation faces regarding energy conservation and emissions reduction is still quite grim," he said.

"Last year, the nation did not meet its goals on reducing polluting emissions or on energy conservation, making our work to fulfill our five-year plan even more difficult."

According to the International Energy Agency, China is forecast to overtake the U.S. as the world's main emitter of greenhouse gases this year.

Originally, the Paris-based agency, which advises developed countries on energy policy, had estimated that China would assume the top emitter spot in 2010 but it moved the date forward because of China's rapid economic growth and coal consumption.

China has set out goals of reducing its energy consumption and emissions of greenhouse gases, but has made little progress toward them.

Wen said he wants to "clean up and rectify preferential policies that give land and electricity discounts or tax breaks to energy intensive or highly polluting industries."

China has ratified the Kyoto Protocol, an international agreement under which countries have committed to reducing their emissions of greenhouse gases, but it is exempt from its restrictions because it is considered a developing country.

Let's hope they can do something.  Wuhan isn't even in the top 10 most polluted cities, and its air is awful.

I can't post news from home - you wont understand 

Just be careful of the sources you post from - there are magazines and papers out there that could send some alarm signals through the system and the Great Firewall of China could rise again.  And also the stuff you post can do the same.

I liked the green plan of one city here. After mining all the stone out of a quarry, they painted it green.

This story is true.

I didn't make it up.

It was in the Chinese paper. Happened to be in Yunnan.

Lanzhou, Xi'an, Chongqing, Beijing at least that I can remember.

Lanzhou was so bad at one stage the US Spy satellites 'lost' it and they figured that China had perfected a 'hiding things' cover and were worried about it.  But it just turned out that the pollution was so bad it completely wiped out the city.

Most cities have bad pollution.  I have taken to calling it "China skies" - grey and heavy looking.  Tiny places far away from major cities - beautiful!! 

Urumqi is #1 polluted city in winter. It beat Lanzhou.
I found out recently that in Beijing if they want to/need to clear the air pollution, they will do something with the clouds (forgot the word - cite?) and make the rain. It usually takes place before big events such as Summits.

(forgot the word - cite?) and make the rain

....seed the clouds.

Thanks 

Quote from: contemporarydog on April 30, 2007, 02:57:15 PM

Wuhan isn't even in the top 10 most polluted cities, and its air is awful.

Ok so Wuhan is not in the top ten, but which cities are? Wuhan's air is foul... and where is it on the list?

Not sure.  I found the list ages ago, but seem to be unable to find it now... No doubt it has been blocked...

Sorry if this has been posted - I am sure most of you know about this, but Google News Alerts helps you monitor the world's news for mention of any keyword you care to type in.

I have 'Ningbo' as my keyword and as a result I get loads (and I mean a few every day) of stuff from trade journals about the latest prices for plastic Christmas trees for export and the like.

However, I also get the odd interesting tidbit that makes this worthwhile.  For example,  a couple of months ago I learned a lot about the Ningbo/Shanghai bridge project which is just a few miles form where I live.  This is stuff that I wouldn't have heard about otherwise.

Give it a try if you haven't already.

Edit - I think I actually learned about this on the old saloon from Lotus Eater...and have just modified my post a little...

I do too...but most of the stories tend to come from Chinese sources...such as this one from Xinhua.

 Death toll in north China mine accident rises to 17, rescue operation ends
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
27/4/2007 16:25


Rescuers have recovered the remaining eight bodies from a north China coal mine after a high-pressure gas explosion a week ago, bringing the death toll to 17.
The rescue operation ended after the last body was recovered at 9:54 p.m. yesterday, said Xu Kai, a spokesman from the publicity department of Fengfeng Mining Group in Handan, Hebei Province, today.
Families of the victims had been negotiating compensation with the company and local government, said Xu.
National standards stipulate that each dead miner's family is entitled to at least 200,000 yuan.
A huge quantity of highly-toxic gas burst into the shafts at about 2:23 a.m. on April 19 at Dashucun Coal Mine in Handan, when 313 people were working underground. Only 296 managed to escape.
Survivors described coal lumps flying into the shaft like a "black flood". Rescuers estimated about 1,200 tons of coal had blocked the tunnel.
An investigation into the cause of the accident is underway, but Xu said the drills may have struck a high-pressure gas pocket.
Dashucun Coal Mine is a state-owned colliery with an annual production capacity of 900,000 tons per year. It went into operation in January 2004.(one US dollars equals to 7.71 yuan)

 

OTTAWA

You know, that was so long I didn't read it. Yes, I know, this isn't on topic.