Poor air blamed on local officials
Print Edition
LOCAL officials determined to grow their economies at any cost are ignoring China’s push to cut air pollution, opting instead to expand heavy industries and cut clean energy from the grid, according to a report by China’s top legislature.
The Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress sent a team of inspectors to 10 cities and provinces from May to September to oversee implementation of pollution policies. It found some local officials continued to pursue GDP growth at the expense of the environment.
“Some local governments have not fulfilled their responsibilities to improve air quality,” the report on the committee’s website (www.npc.gov.cn) said.
“In some locations, enforcement is not stringent or no punishment is imposed on violators.”
Beijing is braced for more heavy smog next week, although hundreds of industrial sites are being shut to ensure the air is cleaner for an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in the capital.
China has issued a flurry of policy directives since it launched a “war on pollution” earlier this year. It has also vowed to end a growth-at-all-costs economic model and pay more heed to the impact of industry on the environment.
The central government has ordered provinces to cut capacity in polluting sectors such as steel but inspectors found that in some regions capacity was being added.
The report also said that coal consumption, the major cause of smog, continued to grow rapidly, while electricity from renewable sources was not even being connected to the grid in some cases.
The report backs up Ministry of Environmental Protection findings this month, which said that some regions of north China’s Hebei Province were not taking their environmental responsibilities seriously enough.
Hebei officials have complained they are bearing too much of the burden for cutting pollution.
China has adopted a new environmental law that gives local authorities more power to punish wrongdoers, but it only comes into force next year.
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