The traffic-control measures aimed at ridding the air of
pollution during the Olympic Games could end up affecting people in
Beijing's neighboring provinces, a source familiar with the plans
said.
"The clean-air plans will require the municipality's neighbors
to adopt certain traffic-control measures and industrial-emissions
controls," the source said yesterday on condition of anonymity.
The purpose of the plan is to reduce the amount of inhalable
particles and ozone in the air.
The source said the plans had already been approved by the State
Council, though the details have yet to be announced. Neither the
State nor the municipal-level environmental watchdogs would confirm
or deny the source's claims.
The capital's clean-air strategy targets vehicular and
industrial emissions, dust and dirt from construction sites and the
promotion of clean energy.
The authorities demonstrated that car emissions, which account
for 40 percent of the city's air pollution, could be brought under
control during a four-day project in August, when 1.3 million cars
were taken out of circulation according to their license plate
numbers.
However, no details are available about traffic-control measures
that will be put in place outside of Beijing.
Wang Xiaoming, a publicity official at the Beijing environmental
bureau, said the city is preparing to adopt a series of measures to
support the Olympics clean-air plan.
"Most of the small coal-burning power plants supplying heat to
the central heating system this winter have shifted to gas-powered
boilers," Wang said.
The coal-burning plants that supply much of the heat to the
city's central heating system from November 15 to March 15 have
been blamed for also creating a lot of pollution.
Beijing has 16,000 small coal-burning boilers.
"Actually it costs more to refit small boilers than big
boilers," Wang said.
Zhu Tong, leader of the panel drafting the capital's clean-air
strategy, said the plan has undergone repeated revisions and
refinements.
"The plan is a comprehensive and scientific one and could be
subject to further changes," he said.
(China Daily October 30, 2007)
