Entire Chinese city suspends factory output for Olympic clean air......

[ShaneGR]

It's just amazing to me how dirty it is there right now. Looking at pictures reminds me of pictures of the Midwest Rust Belt region during the 40s and 50s.



http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/07/sports/olympics/07china.html?ex=1373169600&en=4c653f42417ea10d&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink

BEIJING — With Beijing struggling to clear polluted skies before the Olympics in August, the nearby industrial port of Tianjin has ordered 40 factories to suspend some operations for two months as part of a broader effort to improve air quality during the Games, state news media reported.
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The planned shutdowns in Tianjin, about 70 miles east of Beijing, are one piece of a regional plan that is expected to result in temporary factory closings or slowdowns across a large swath of northern China during the Games. Few details are known about which factories might close or when, so the announcement in Tianjin offers a window into one piece of the plan.

Beijing’s air quality remains a major concern for the Games as the city continues to struggle with pollution, despite a $20 billion government cleanup campaign. Beijing is also a victim of its neighborhood: pollution blows in from surrounding regions that are dotted with coal mines, coal-fired power plants, steel mills, cement factories and other clusters of heavy industry.

The Olympics’ opening ceremony is Aug. 8, and meteorologists have said officials must begin closing factories a few weeks beforehand to make a difference.

[BrklynLiberal]

1. ..and then they will start up right after the Olympics are done....

So why bother? Is anyone going to be impressed by this half-assed attempt to create clean air for the duration of the Olympics, and not try to maintain it after that?

[eleny]

2. I heard a news report that they were spiking the price of gasoline

Maybe that's how they figured to get people to drive less in the coming weeks. It came out of the blue and I didn't make the connection at the time.

Did you see my posting of a few minutes ago about the algae in the waters where the rowing competitions will take place? Ugh.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=3578493&mesg_id=3578493

[HEyHEY]

3. When I was in Seoul it was like that - real gross.

And the Koreans say most of it blows in from China.

[ColbertWatcher]

4. Wow, that looks like the parts of California hit by the fires. n/t

[Catch22Dem]

5. I wouldn't breathe that shit for all the tea in....uh....well, China (n/t)

[Greyskye]

6. Shanghai is bad as well

[LSdemocrat]

7. Just think of all the hundreds of millions of people living, working, and growing in such places

They don't get to leave after the games.