By Brett Daniel Shehadey
Special Contributor for In Homeland Security
China is finally “declaring war” on its country’s life-threatening rampant pollution crisis. Chinese Premier Li Keqiang made the announcement last Wednesday at the annual meeting of parliament.
Li also said that his government plans to eliminate outdated steel production by a total of 27 million tons this year (2.5 percent of the total), reduce cement output by 42 million tons, and also take away six million cars from the streets and shut off 50,000 small coal furnaces.
From smog and paper air masks and closing own entire cities and mass hospitalization and cover-up, China’s air pollution has sky-rocketed over the past ten years. In 2009, China burned almost half of the world’s coal. In 2013, China burned as much coal as the world combined!
Coal power make up 70-80 percent of China’s entire energy sector. Lack of vehicle and transportation emission standards are problems but really the issue is political direction and willpower.
Small steps taken thus far have not out matched the CCP’s imperial imperative for growth. Grow, grow, grow, was the previous model. But that is changing out of crisis conditions. First with an increase in social services offered to the people and now as the skies are black and coal rains down from tian with a national average of 24 hour PM 2.5 level exposure in most urban cities–three times what the WTO deems safe. This last January, in Beijing, the PM2.5 reached a daily peak of 671 micrograms (26 times what is considered safe air).
In 2012, China spent 65 billion dollars in renewable energy technology. According to Beijing Municiple Bureau of Environmental Protection, Feng Li, China needs about $817 billion dollars and Beijing will need to spend around $163 billion to effectively combat air pollution. The sheer mounting costs might be a substantial reason why the government has failed to take the necessary actions over the years.
As if death by breathing was not enough, the grim status of the China’s national water and soil contamination is just as critically terrifying. One 2013 report estimated 40 percent of the rivers in China were polluted and 20 percent of the water too toxic for contact.
This year, China plans on spending $330 billion to rescue its precious water resources; of which China has only a disproportionate 7 percent of the world’s fresh water and a fifth of the global population. But how do you uncontaminated entire rivers in these conditions? Water shortages plague the cities and hundreds of millions of people in at least half of the urban count cannot drink municipal water in any safety that matches international drinking standards.
The farm land- toxic food- heavy metals in land. Additionally there are reported 3.3. million hectares too contaminated to produce crops. That of course does not account for all of the land that is producing crops with high levels of heavy metals and other contaminants and toxins.
New efforts will attempt to regulate industry on paper while at the same time encourage more of it. A lack of transparency and sheer honesty is a significant hindrance to progress. In spite of this, there will be a greater demand by the people for personal protection from contamination, as is already being seen. The government may prove too slow to act. Counter-pollution industries are about to pick-up big time. For example, the N95 air masks, home and commercial air filters, water filtration systems, food certification schemes, land revivification, clean coal and other efforts social counter-pollution efforts will take place with or without the government.
Targeting polluters selectively and spending more to counter and revitalize natural resources of air, land and water is a necessity. Polluters will be forced to pay more, according to new action taken in Beijing.
China needs to push the private sector here and encourage innovation driven by the necessity of the masses who taking their own drastic measures. It must get out of their way and not stymie creative responses but also target the harmful collective habits and political corruption and opaque operations. Moreover, Beijing must realize that some things cannot be repaired in the environment, once they have been contaminated. Such could take generations. Children and babies too, are the most susceptible to all of this pollution in the crisis they face—hence their future generations will suffer even more if they fail.
Western companies like Unilever have already taken the hint of investing in China’s counter-pollution markets but Western states are slow to make a long-term investment into China’s safety and stability.
The US, the EU and the region here should take large strides to help the Chinese people in this manner with clean technologies and offer solutions, if the CCP will have it. Convincing them is part of the priority. Much of this could be done at no cost or low cost and seen as a diplomatic and joint humanitarian mission. This gets the world back deeper into China, reconnects the Chinese people directly with the globe and heals the state.
Surely, a sustainable China is also in the interest of Washington and the global community. A pledge of directed resource supply and support would be a good gesture of improved ties, charity and continued trade.
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