A short note to start the week… China. We’ll see what they actually do but at least they are now saying the right things.
I know there are skeptics out there that get this email but it’s better to hear the Chinese say the right things and hopefully act on their words rather than having them even deny a problem exists. In some sense, they are way ahead of our Congress which is being held hostage to a group that still denies the science of Climate Change and has thwarted any federal legislation to mitigate it.
Premier declares war on pollution
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang today vowed to crack down on pollution, saying in a speech to China’s Legislature that he was “declaring war” on the problem.
Li told the National People’s Congress that environmental degradation is “nature’s red-light warning against the model of inefficient and blind development.”
Environmental problems have taken on growing prominence in China as residents have grown increasingly concerned over smog in cities and water contamination.
To combat the growing problem, Li said the government will shut down 50,000 coal-fired furnaces, clean up coal-burning power plants and remove 6 million vehicles with the worst emissions from the roads. He also promised action to improve food safety in the country.
“We will declare war against pollution and fight it with the same determination we battled poverty,” Li said (Agence France-Presse, March 4). –– SP
