We have been discussing for years how China has allowed pollution contaminate the soil, water, and air of its country to a shocking degree. That is no more apparent (literally) than the air in Beijing (here and here and here and here). Now the city is being called “unliveable.” That is nothing new except this is Beijing’s own mayor, Wang Anshun.
Wang told a group this month that “[a]t the present time, however, Beijing is not a liveable city.”
Wang knows something about runaway pollution. He is a former official in the state-controlled petroleum sector. Tourism has decreased in recent years as people read about the harmful levels of air pollution, food contamination scandals, and other environmental issues. On a recent ranking of the most popular tourist destinations, Beijing now ranks just before Sofia, Bulgaria and 34th out of 100 top cities.
I have written about how Beijing seems to defy imagination on the levels of pollution every time I visit. The city has 21.5 million residents and is growing at a rate of more than 350,000 a year.
However, China is acting to reduce the problem of pollution. It has moved to block the App giving access to the widely used pollution readings from the U.S. Embassy. Those readings are reliable and accurate, which is precisely why the Chinese government has moved to shutdown access.
Source: Guardian
We despise the Koch Brothers for buying what politicians put up for sale. But it’s OK if the Unions do exactly the same.
We despise when special interests interfere with the democracy of the majority, unless it is a judge overturning the will of the masses in favor of a policy that I support.
We despise the abuse of Presidential Power, unless it is a President from our own party who does it at historical levels. Then it’s OK because it benefits us.
We despise filibustering, unless our own party does it. The other party should work across the aisles, and compromise on everything, but it our own party should hold firm on our beliefs. When the Other Party is in power, they should fight with every tactic they have to hold true to the party principles.
We abhor pollution, unless it’s done to produce “green energy.” We fight against anything that endangers wildlife, unless it is caused by green energy production. Ex – The High Speed Rail Authority exempted CA’s Browndoggle Bullet Train from CA Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), on the basis that it was preempted by federal law. Fossil fuel producers are fined massively for each little sparrow that dies, while wind farms and solar farms are exempted from massive avian deaths. Wind farms in general can be detrimental to marine and land wildlife. http://iopscience.iop.org/1748-9326/9/3/034012/article#erl492511s4
THIS is what I’m tired of in politics. THIS is why I appreciate Professor Turley’s perspective. He has a compass of right and wrong irregardless of what political party it benefits. There is no moral equivalence, or changing values if it benefits one’s own political party.
Fossil fuels are finite. One way or another, alternatives will have to be found and optimized. That’s not even in question.