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China Cleans up Its most Polluted Cities
Saturday, 13 September 2008 19:19 Elise Potaka
While the skies over Beijing have cleared for the Olympic and
Paralympic Games, smog still clouds the air in many parts of
China’s Shanxi province.
Located in the mid north, the region is home to three of the
country’s most polluted cities. For years, coal, and industrial
pollutants have blackened the air and contaminated the water
and soil.
Now, local governments are being given financial incentives to get off the country’s
environmental blacklist.
From Shanxi, Elise Potaka has this report.
To the melody of happy birthday, a truck winds its way through the streets of Linfen spraying
water on the road to settle the dust and pollutants.
For three years running, China’s environment authority deemed this city the most polluted in the
country.
Iron foundries, coal mines, power stations as well as more cars, have left locals gasping for clean
air.
Wang Zhang lives on the outskirts of town.
“In the afternoon you can’t see people even people standing just over there, you can’t see them
clearly.”
Yang Chun Xiang, in her 70’s, says when she was young there was little pollution. Now living
here is a health risk.
In the 1980’s, the Chinese government decided to make this province a base for the country’s
energy industries.
More than two thirds of China’s power is coal-generated and one third of this coal comes from
Shanxi.
The province’s capital, Taiyuan, is covered in a brown layer of smoke.
On a bridge crossing the river that divides the town, three locals dangle fishing lines into the
water below.
They ignore the no fishing signs, and turn a blind eye to the upturned bodies of dead fish floating
in the water.
But Cao Haixia, a researcher with Shanxi’s Energy Economic Research Institute, says the Fen
River is far from healthy.
“The Fen River is severely polluted. In Shanxi, 70 percent of waterways are polluted; half of
these can’t be used.”
She says runoffs from mine tailings are largely to blame. The impacts on health have been
severe.
“Respiratory illnesses in Shanxi are common. Cancer rates amongst residents are also high.”
The World Bank estimates air pollution alone is costing China 3.8 percent of its annual GDP.
But in the big cities at least, locals say the pollution is decreasing.
At this fruit and vegetable market in Taiyuan, these local women say there has been a big change
in the last few years.
In Linfen, taxi driver Xiao Hui says at least now he can see the sun.
Since 2006, the Chinese central government says they’ve been working hard to clean up Shanxi.
They’re now trialing an environmental tax scheme where coal companies put aside money which
can then be used to decrease pollution and regenerate the environment.
Cao Haixia explains.
“Every company, for every tonne of coal they sell for example, they have to put aside 10 yuan.
This money is then used for pollution management, and protecting the environment at the mine
site.”
The money can be spent on things like planting trees and installing cleaner technologies.
The Shanxi provincial government has also set up a rewards system.
If a city gets off the country’s list of top five most polluted cities, the city’s leaders will receive a
one million yuan reward.
Shanxi Governor, Yu Youjun, has said that shutting down polluting industry or upgrading to
cleaner technologies will, in the short term, take its toll.
“The elimination of the backward production capacity will possibly slash billions from the total
GDP and tax revenues. But we are willing to pay the price for the long-term development of
Shanxi’s economy, for blue sky and clear water.”
Less well known is the toll this could take on workers in Shanxi.
Money from mining and industry has in recent decades lifted the living standards of many locals.
Now in cities like Linfen and Taiyuan locals say it can be hard to find work. In areas outside the
cities, it can be even tougher.
This woman in Beilou village says she and her husband are both out of work and the pollution is
just as bad as before. No one cares about life in the villages she says.
The situation here is symbolic of China’s larger struggle to lift people out of poverty and protect
the environment. Change is happening but the initial benefits are not always felt by all.
But if in the next few years Shanxi manages to transform its environment and economy, it could
act as an example for the rest of the country.