No country in
history has become a major industrial power without creating a legacy of
environmental damage. China is clearly not an exception. The speed and scale of
China's rise has brought an unprecedented pollution problem. Public health is
reeling. Pollution has made cancer China's leading cause of death according to
the Ministry of Health. Ambient air pollution alone is blamed for hundreds of
thousands of deaths each year. The factories and spewing automobile engines
recently caused hundreds of flights to be cancelled in and around Beijing.
Stores are selling out of face masks and the government struggles to figure out
this political challenge and provide relief of the long-term burden on its
people.
I see
only a tragedy for the humankind....there's nothing worse than hiding the fact
the system we're living in, called economic linearism, has failed, and we're
going back of 2 centuries ago, where a class of superrich (called nobles that
time) govern and manipulate with authoritarism and absolute fascism every
aspect of life, from culture, to media, culinary and to insurance.
Although
the country is walking a long, hard road before it reaches the land of crisp,
clean, blue skies, I am still cautiously optimistic about the future. Particularly
on information disclosure, we've seen in recent times the public, media comes
together to demand transparency, which has really triggered a big change. But
we've also noticed that when it comes to the real health impacts of air
pollution, the Chinese public has very limited knowledge. Only once there's
real understanding of how harmful air pollution is, can concern turn into
pressure and momentum to make real change.
Ryan Lindquist
4:00 PM
Feb 8, 2013
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