China Environmental Law

The Good

During the first six months of 2009, Beijing experienced its best air in a decade.  Although just how good Beijing’s air is in an absolute sense remains in dispute (for all things Beijing Air, your indispensable source is livefrombeijing), there seems little reason to doubt that air quality has improved on a relative basis lately.  How did that happen you ask?

Environmental protection experts attributed the improvement of air quality to the reduced emission of pollutants and the after effect of measures taken during the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.

I love axiomatic responses: the air is cleaner because we are putting less dirt in it.  No doubt this is true.  The cause for “less dirt” is probably a combination of pollution reduction measures and the effect of the economic downturn on industrial production and construction activities.  I suspect favorable weather conditions (”we swept more frequently”) also played a role, but hey, enjoy it while it lasts.

The Bad

While the environment in China’s rich urban areas continues to improve marginally, China’s rural residents continue to run a gauntlet of environmental hazards.

In Beijing’s neighboring Hebei Province, 400 people experienced “symptoms of vomiting, diarrhea and fever” after drinking contaminated tap water.  The underground water line apparently was infiltrated with an as yet unidentified pollutant.

Farther south in Anhui Province authorities warned of an imminent outbreak of blue algae in Chaohu Lake.  The algae, “nurtured mainly by pollutants of nitrogen and phosphorus,” “suffocates” the lake surface “killing aquatic animals.”  It can also result in the disruption of drinking water supplies if it forms near the intake points.

Li Guanggui, a fisherman said only three to four fish in his daily hauls of over 5,000 grams were alive during the algae outbreak last year.

Li Zhaolin, a resident living by the lake side in the outskirt of Hefei, said the lake has smelled so bad since last week that he could not open his windows.

“The dead fish have brought swarms of mosquitoes, affecting the life here,” he said.

You guys should take a vacation to Beijing as enjoy the fresh air.

The Bizarre

On Tuesday this year’s “Greenland dialogue,” an informal annual meeting on climate change began in the west coast Greenland city of Ilulissat.  First held by Denmark four years ago in the same location, this year it has attracted over 30 ministers and delegates from “[s]ome of the world’s biggest polluters — Brazil, Britain, France, Germany, India, Japan, Russia and the United States.”

Where is the world’s largest current CO2 polluter you ask?  Pouting, it appears. The Danish Prime Minister and Foreign Minister had the temerity to meet with a certain exiled religious leader last month over protests by the Chinese government.  That meeting, according to China, “destroyed the friendly and co-operative atmosphere between China and Denmark.”  Ergo, no Chinese delegates in Greenland.  I suspect “the friendly and co-operative atmosphere” will be repaired (perhaps by the exchange of joke books or ethnic joy buzzers) in time for the global climate meeting in Copenhagen in December.  All’s well that ends well.