Bad Air: Some Photos from Beijing

Well, what can I say about my trip to a ‘developing’ country with a culture over 5,000 years old? It was one of the most rewarding trips I have ever taken but to say it was fun in would be overstating it. Fascinating yes, fun for the time I was talking to NRDC staff, absolutely, the rest of the time, I am not so sure.

This first blog post has to be about air quality. First, I was preoccupied with it and second, it will have serious implications for next summer when China has its coming out party to the rest of the world in the form of the summer Olympics. The air quality is as bad as others (such as the media, people who have visited China, statistics from the World Health Organization) led me to believe. I did not have a coughing fit from being there (my cough came from water skiing behind a two-stroke engine in Bali) but once I looked out my hotel room window during the first morning I was shocked by what I saw. I could only see about six blocks in any direction (pictures from NRDC office very close to hotel are below). It was not until I left the next day and traveled across the city that I realized how much I was missing. The city sprawls forever but I could not tell. In any case, I noticed right away that there was something seriously ‘wrong’ with the air in Beijing.

I placed the word ‘wrong’ in quotes because while it is a priority to clear the air in Beijing, it is dwarfed by the goal of economic development. Causing dangerous air quality in order to grow the economy is a trade-off China is more than willing to make. Trade-offs with the goal of achieving balance between competing interests are common  in environmental decision-making, but it is not often that one can literally see the results of a trade-off from a hotel balcony.

As bad as I thought the air was, it was better than it was just five days later when my colleague Erik Laaken was in Beijing.

Here is a picture from my trip. Visibility is okay. I was a little bit surprised but it reminded me of pictures of Los Angeles in the 1960s. 




My experience with air quality paled (literally) in comparison to my colleague, Eric Laaken (also with NRDC). This picture was taken just five days after I left. This picture was taken at 4:30. Sunset in Beijing does not take place until around 6pm.

I am interested to see what the Chinese government will do to clean this up in time for the Olympics. If they are unsuccessful, I hope they can hold the marathon outside city limits.

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