The environment in the news friday, 20 June 2008
AFP:Olympics: Beijing car ban targets pollution, gridlock
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AFP:Olympics: Beijing car ban targets pollution, gridlock4 hours ago BEIJING (AFP) — Beijing will ban more than one million cars from the streets during the Olympics in an effort to curb pollution and ease traffic gridlock, the government confirmed Friday. Cars with odd- and even-numbered license plates will be ruled off the roads on alternate days for two months starting July 20, the Beijing government said in a notice posted on its website. Also, 70 percent of all government cars and vehicles owned by state-run enterprises will be banned under the measure announced seven weeks ahead of the opening ceremony for the August 8-24 Games. The ban is aimed at cutting air pollution and alleviating chronic traffic congestion, the government notice said. Beijing is one of the world's most polluted cities and vehicle emissions from more than three million cars are chiefly to blame for poor air quality, which represents one of the biggest challenges to the successful staging of the Games. International Olympic Committee chief Jacques Rogge has warned that endurance events, such as the marathon, may be postponed to protect athletes from the effects of pollution. Already, some of the 10,000 athletes coming to the Olympics have expressed concerns about the health impact of competing in the capital city. Ethiopian distance great Haile Gebrselassie, who suffers from asthma, has said he had no intention of "committing suicide" by running the marathon here. Beijing underwent a four-day trial ban on cars in August 2007, prohibiting one million cars from the roads. The air quality, however, did not appear to show a marked improvement. Heavy smog has become a characteristic feature of Beijing, but government officials maintain that air quality has been improving steadily for years thanks to a 20-billion-dollar environment cleanup campaign launched in 1998. Du Xiaozhong, deputy director of the city's environmental protection bureau, said recently that in addition to the car ban, heavily polluting factories would be shut down during the Games and work on Beijing's thousands of building sites would be restricted. The car ban was also aimed at easing the legendary traffic snarl-up in a city that sees an additional 1,200 new cars on the roads every day, according to the city government. Under the ruling, all private cars will be affected by the odd-even driving ban and 70 percent of central government and Beijing city vehicles will be kept off the roads. Police and emergency services vehicles, as well as public transport and taxis, will be excluded. Drivers who respect the ban will be rewarded with road tax reductions, the government statement said, while violators will face punishment "under the law" and also lose the tax cut. Coinciding with the car ban confirmation, the government said petrol and diesel prices will rise by more than 16 percent from Friday to close the gap with soaring international oil prices.
CHINA: June 20, 2008 China's capital has spent 140 billion yuan (US$20.34 billion) to combat chronic pollution and create a clean, green Beijing ahead of the Aug. 8-24 Olympics. Here are some of the measures the city, home to 15 million people and 3 million cars, is taking to green up: SWITCHING TO GAS FROM COAL: -- Already the top consumer of natural gas among Chinese cities, Beijing's usage grew to an estimated 4.7 billion cubic metres in 2007 as it tried to cut back on the 26 million tonnes of polluting coal it consumes a year. -- By the end of 2006, 15,200 coal-fired boilers, out of 16,300 in the city, had been converted to natural gas or other clean fuels. CLOSING OR RELOCATING HEAVY POLLUTERS: -- Steel-maker Capital Steel, long Beijing's worst polluter, has relocated most operations out of the city to coastal Hebei province, with the rest to follow by 2010. -- In July 2006, production ceased at another major polluter, the Beijing Coking and Chemical Factory, which had been responsible for 7,300 tonnes of dust and 7,500 tonnes of sulphur dioxide in annual emissions. GREENING THE TRANSPORT SYSTEM: -- To cut pollution from private cars, which pump out 80 percent of the carbon monoxide in Beijing skies, new emission standards implemented in 2005 were tightened in January 2008. -- A new north-south subway line opened in October 2007. Ticket prices were set at two yuan (about 29 cents) to woo commuters off the roads. Spectators with Olympics tickets will travel free on public transport during the Games. -- Beijing retired or refitted 47,000 old taxis, and about 7,000 old diesel buses, out of a fleet of 60,000 taxis and 19,000 buses. A new fleet of 3,795 buses powered by natural gas are already on the road. COVERING DUST FROM CONSTRUCTION: -- Beijing's 100 million square metres of construction sites have been asked to cover their dirt and dust. Sites found to be causing dust pollution will be hit with fines. RECYCLING WATER: -- The dry northern capital has had eight successive years of drought. To conserve water, it obtained 10 percent, 360 million cubic metres, from recycled and reclaimed sources in 2006. CONTROLLING SANDSTORMS: -- A huge 7.7 billion yuan (US$1.12 billion) Olympic Green Forest Park has been created on a mountain 70 km north of the capital, to shield it from dust and sand storms that whip through it in spring between March and May. Sources: Beijing Environmental Protection Bureau; Beijing Organising Committee for the Olympic Games (BOCOG); United Nations Environment Programme report "Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, an Environmental Review"; Beijing Drainage Group. (Writing by Gillian Murdoch and Liu Zhen, Beijing Editorial Reference Unit) REUTERS NEWS SERVICE Back to Menu ________________________________________________________________________ Directory: cpi -> briefs briefs -> The environment in the news briefs -> The environment in the news briefs -> The environment in the news briefs -> The environment in the news briefs -> The environment in the news briefs -> The environment in the news briefs -> The environment in the news briefs -> The environment in the news briefs -> The environment in the news Download 232.83 Kb. Share with your friends:
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