ManufactureThis has taken a keen interest in the upcoming Beijing Olympics.  It remains to be seen whether Beijing’s smog-ridden skies will be clear in time for the opening ceremonies, 20 days hence.

There does seem to be some progress as the country closes all of its factories west of Beijing in an attempt to clear the air.  Take a look at these views of downtown Beijing courtesy of The Atlantic’s James Fallows:

July 12

July 16 . 

It looks like there’s slightly less smog–or maybe a touch more blue in the sky. 

The bigger point, though, is just how smoggy Beijing typically is every day of the year.  With little adherence to environmental standards, China’s factories continue to belch unrestrained CO2 and sulfur dioxide emissions all year long.  And so, this one-time pause for the Olympics means little in terms of the overall pollution rate that has made China the world’s leader in the production of greenhouse gases and SO2.
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This entry was posted on Friday, July 18th, 2008 at 10:48 pm and is filed under Holding China Accountable. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.