Loaf of Bread
2007-02-04 21:44:58 UTC
A canary in the Chinese coal mine
GEOFFREY YORK
harvest. The wheat kernels are dark, sooty, hollow and twisted.
"Nobody wants to buy it, so we have to eat it at home," says Zhang
Xiaojiao, a farmer in the village.
"Look at it," she says, brandishing a handful of the stuff. "It
doesn't taste good. It tastes bitter. It's because of the coal
pollution. But nobody cares about us, and nobody comes to
investigate."
All around this valley, thousands of peasants are trying to carve out
an existence against the thick dust that chokes the air and settles
heavily over every living thing. The soil is covered with a layer of
grey soot. Tree leaves are laden with dust. The cabbages are
blackened.
[snip]
Donglu village has been swallowed up by Linfen, a city of about 4.3
million, possibly the most polluted place on the planet. It is
certainly one of the dirtiest cities in China, a status confirmed by
annual government surveys for the past five years. A World Bank study
a few years ago concluded that it was the most polluted city in the
world.
[snip]
Coal is the biggest reason for China's rapid climb to the top ranks of
the world's worst contributors to global warming. The latest
projections show that China will overtake the United States to become
the world's top producer of carbon dioxide by 2009, nearly a decade
quicker than projected in previous studies. China will soon produce 20
per cent of all the carbon dioxide on the planet.
[snip]
CHINA and other developing countries are exempt from the Kyoto
Protocol's rules for cutting the production of greenhouse gases. They
argue strenuously that they should be allowed the same historical
privileges that allowed the industrialized nations to develop their
economies, even if it means a sharp increase in global-warming gases
over the next decade or two.
[snip]
LINFEN'S descent into this hellish existence has been surprisingly
rapid. As recently as the 1980s, the city planted fruit trees on its
streets and called itself the "Modern Flower and Fruit Town."
But as China launched its economic reforms, its booming factories
needed energy. Hundreds of coal-fired power plants were hastily built,
and entrepreneurs rushed into the coal industry, often digging illegal
mines or creating makeshift coking factories that blatantly violated
environmental laws.
[snip]
The pollution in Linfen is so bad that even the red lanterns outside
the restaurants are sometimes black from soot. Cars turn on their
headlamps in the daytime. Nobody wears a white shirt because it soon
becomes grey. Half of the local drinking wells are polluted and
unsafe. Elderly people stay indoors, afraid to breathe the air on the
streets. Young children have grown up without ever seeing the stars at
night because of the haze.
[snip]
LINFEN might be an extreme example of China's environmental woes, but
the rest of the country is suffering similar consequences of failed
government and weak regulation. An estimated 400,000 people die
prematurely every year in China because of respiratory illnesses
caused by air pollution. Environmental targets are routinely ignored.
Studies have found that about 60 per cent of Chinese companies are
violating environmental rules.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20070203.wclimatechina03/BNStory/ClimateChange/home
While we are trying to cut our greenhouse gas emissions, China is
ramping up production like there is no tomorrow.
According to the article, China plans to build another 500 coal fired
power plants. Alberta has nowhere near 500 coal fired power plants.
Neither does Ontario.
Rachel Carson raised the hue and cry against pollution in North
America back in the 1960s. While we aren't perfect, we've done a lot
to clean up our act since then. At least in Lost Angeles, with it's
smog haze, you can see past the end of the block, unlike Linfen,
China.
Yes, let's work to reduce our own pollution and greenhouse gas
emissions. As for Kyoto, until countries like China clean up their
own act, and set and achieve some targets of their own, Kyoto is dead
in the water and sinking fast.
GEOFFREY YORK
From Saturday's Globe and Mail
LINFEN, China - The wheat farmers of Donglu village can't sell theirharvest. The wheat kernels are dark, sooty, hollow and twisted.
"Nobody wants to buy it, so we have to eat it at home," says Zhang
Xiaojiao, a farmer in the village.
"Look at it," she says, brandishing a handful of the stuff. "It
doesn't taste good. It tastes bitter. It's because of the coal
pollution. But nobody cares about us, and nobody comes to
investigate."
All around this valley, thousands of peasants are trying to carve out
an existence against the thick dust that chokes the air and settles
heavily over every living thing. The soil is covered with a layer of
grey soot. Tree leaves are laden with dust. The cabbages are
blackened.
[snip]
Donglu village has been swallowed up by Linfen, a city of about 4.3
million, possibly the most polluted place on the planet. It is
certainly one of the dirtiest cities in China, a status confirmed by
annual government surveys for the past five years. A World Bank study
a few years ago concluded that it was the most polluted city in the
world.
[snip]
Coal is the biggest reason for China's rapid climb to the top ranks of
the world's worst contributors to global warming. The latest
projections show that China will overtake the United States to become
the world's top producer of carbon dioxide by 2009, nearly a decade
quicker than projected in previous studies. China will soon produce 20
per cent of all the carbon dioxide on the planet.
[snip]
CHINA and other developing countries are exempt from the Kyoto
Protocol's rules for cutting the production of greenhouse gases. They
argue strenuously that they should be allowed the same historical
privileges that allowed the industrialized nations to develop their
economies, even if it means a sharp increase in global-warming gases
over the next decade or two.
[snip]
LINFEN'S descent into this hellish existence has been surprisingly
rapid. As recently as the 1980s, the city planted fruit trees on its
streets and called itself the "Modern Flower and Fruit Town."
But as China launched its economic reforms, its booming factories
needed energy. Hundreds of coal-fired power plants were hastily built,
and entrepreneurs rushed into the coal industry, often digging illegal
mines or creating makeshift coking factories that blatantly violated
environmental laws.
[snip]
The pollution in Linfen is so bad that even the red lanterns outside
the restaurants are sometimes black from soot. Cars turn on their
headlamps in the daytime. Nobody wears a white shirt because it soon
becomes grey. Half of the local drinking wells are polluted and
unsafe. Elderly people stay indoors, afraid to breathe the air on the
streets. Young children have grown up without ever seeing the stars at
night because of the haze.
[snip]
LINFEN might be an extreme example of China's environmental woes, but
the rest of the country is suffering similar consequences of failed
government and weak regulation. An estimated 400,000 people die
prematurely every year in China because of respiratory illnesses
caused by air pollution. Environmental targets are routinely ignored.
Studies have found that about 60 per cent of Chinese companies are
violating environmental rules.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20070203.wclimatechina03/BNStory/ClimateChange/home
While we are trying to cut our greenhouse gas emissions, China is
ramping up production like there is no tomorrow.
According to the article, China plans to build another 500 coal fired
power plants. Alberta has nowhere near 500 coal fired power plants.
Neither does Ontario.
Rachel Carson raised the hue and cry against pollution in North
America back in the 1960s. While we aren't perfect, we've done a lot
to clean up our act since then. At least in Lost Angeles, with it's
smog haze, you can see past the end of the block, unlike Linfen,
China.
Yes, let's work to reduce our own pollution and greenhouse gas
emissions. As for Kyoto, until countries like China clean up their
own act, and set and achieve some targets of their own, Kyoto is dead
in the water and sinking fast.