BBC News video: China's no-car day had "absolutely no impact"
In effort to reduce smog before the 2008 Olympic Games, China tried a "no-car day" on Sept. 22. But Reuters (in the video above) and the BBC are reporting it did not go so well. They say cars were banned from some streets but the traffic did not seem much different than usual.The BBC reporter says there was "absolutely no impact." In fact, the BBC reporter even thought the air quality was actually worse than the day before which was a regular car day. China will host the 2008 Summer Olympics and the bad air quality could be a major issue for athletes and public opinion.
Related:
- Beijing's trial of cutting vehicle traffic results in more pollution (or not)
- Everything ready for Beijing's trial on reducing traffic
- Beijing to ban traffic in August, and maybe during the Olympics
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Chris M 9:51PM (9/23/2007)
China is the worlds biggest corporate monopoly, and will not do anything about environmental problems until it threatens the party leadership, or their image to the rest of the world.
The officials don't want the cost of catalytic converters or other controls on air pollution, so they try cheap tricks like this one. It won't work.
If Beijing is unable to clear the air by August 2008, the Beijing Olympics next year may be canceled due to health concerns. That, of course, would be a major embarassment for the Communists, and could lead to some major changes in government there.
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Murc 12:46AM (9/24/2007)
wow, look at the streets in that video!
I didn't relize that It is THAT smoggy, I hope it was just a foggy day, cause that was pathetic.
China is "updateing" (for lack of a better word) to damn fast, and its causeing them a LOT of problems.
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Nicholas 5:12AM (9/24/2007)
God I think China is a great example of how things get when greed is present. We need to do something drastic to change the infrastructure of alternatives around the world. Even if the oilcompanies says it´s impossible. Look at us here in Sweden. We got a functioning infrastructure for Biogas already which is basically CO2 neutral. And we produce it ourselves. Why can´t other countries do this?
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rgseidl 8:34AM (9/24/2007)
People forget what the air was like in e.g. LA or London before the authorities cracked down on emissions. China is several decades behind, with many gross polluter legacy vehicles (especially old diesel trucks) and, high levels of sulfur in on-road fuels (2000ppm nationwide, 500ppm in certain cities).
New cars have to meet the equivalent of Euro3 emissions today. Beijing will upgrade to Euro4 on 1-1-2008, with the rest of the country due to follow suit by 1-1-2010 (diesel) and 7-1-2010 (gasoline). Euro3 implies catalysts and OBD features, but the high fuel sulfur levels may damage these systems before the vehicle's end of life.
Other major contributors to urban pollution in China are poor quality home heating furnaces and legacy industrial equipment. The Politburo is quite aware that the Soviet Empire collapsed partly because the systemic disregard for environmental protection had reached critical levels. It's just that you can't ride a tiger and expect him not to sweat.
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MikeW 9:58AM (9/24/2007)
How about the PremAir radiator coating that is supposed to reduce 75% of the ozone through it.
Damn that is bad. How about a coal free powerplant week trial?
dump the lead, get the catalytic converters into the cars.
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Hamster 11:50AM (9/24/2007)
Would 15 million poor people in New orleans be cleaner?
Who is responsible when American-run company in China makes a dangerous toy defect?
Who is responsible when American-sponsored or American-run companies in China pollute the American and Chinese airspace?
http://itsgettinghotinhere.org/2007/09/15/not-in-my-country-outsourcing-pollution/
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Tyguy 2:33PM (9/24/2007)
Well, I knew this wouldn't work anyway. China's smog problem isn't from cars in my opinion. The problems it that everywhere you look there are coal powerplants and other factories spewing crap out. If they regulated factory outputs like in America they would see vastly better air quality. And yes, it is really bad in Beijing and in most cities all the way down China's east coast. Many days in Beijing the sun will just look red all day due to the smog in the air.
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