Pollution: China's Pollution Debate

Smog Stokes China Pollution Debate – VOA news

 

This article is about the current pollution problem going on in China.  Already this year, the pollution levels in China have gone well above levels considered to be healthy.  During the last week of January, a long stretch of extremely high-level pollution brought up debate about this very unhealthy problem.  Smog consumed cities from the north all the way to southern China. 

The blame of this mass pollution problem is on the busy factories, the use of coal for heat during these winter months and also the high-sulfur fuel used in automobiles.  China has the largest automobile market, and the Chinese with cars use them as habit.  One solution to this pollution problem is to restrict the use of cars during high-pollution times.  One person who was interviewed said this restriction would hinder his way to work, and he doesn’t think it will solve the problem.  Another man claims that yes, the cars are a problem, but not the biggest problem.  He thinks it is the easiest way to start the cleaning of China’s air.

The fuel quality in China is very poor and contains high amounts of sulfur.  Pan Xiaochuan, a professor from the Beijing University School of Public Health says improving the quality of fuel would improve the quality of air, but it would also raise the prices of fuel.  This would not go over easily with Chinese citizens who as of now purchase cheap gasoline.  Traffic congestion is also an issue.  When the cars are backed up and moving slower, they create five to ten times more pollution.

China is well on the way to the industry of carbon trading, which will help to reduce pollution.  The platform for carbon trading is to offer companies to earn credits for lowering green house gas emission.  Experts claim that the Chinese carbon trading program will become the largest in the world, and it will reduce pollution in China by 45% in only 7 years. 

When you consider the large population in China, it’s large producing industry, and the quality of gasoline, you would think that pollution would be more of a problem for the country than others.  Pollution is so harmful to the environment and to people health.  There need to be strict regulations on the big factories on their toxic emissions, and the quality of fuel needs to be increased. 

 

Carly Taylor

2/1/2013  3:54 PM

 

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