How China Is Scrambling For Clean Air

China over took the United State as the world biggest source of greenhouse gases in 2006. Helping put the world on the path to Miss United Nation targets aimed at the stemming rise in the earth’s temperature. Bloomberg reported “The heap power from coal and cheap factory production that’s powered by coal has help China turn into this economic giant that has helped produce cheap goods for the rest of the world and helped drive the world’s economy. So in a sense, Chinese people are paying a tax in breathing this bad air for the benefit of consumer all over the world”.  The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates more than 1 million Chinese died from dirty air in 2016 another study puts the tally even higher at 4000 deaths a day. Pollution is to be said the main cause of social unrest in recent years but social media helping to amplify complaints. On Chinese Social media people blamed factories for polluting the air and Governments for not doing enough.

In February 2015 a Chinese journalist published a self-funded documentary about the countries air pollution problem. More than 100 million people watched under the doom before it was banned from Chinese video website 6 days after it was released. Shortly after President Xi Jinping pledge to fight with this pollution and to punish those environmental polluters. Last few years government has spent billions of money on fighting environmental regulations and changing millions of homes and businesses from coal to natural gas.

China is now the biggest investor in green energy. It spent over $100 billion in 2018 which was 56% more than the US. China also supported electric vehicles industry by providing subsidies for EV buyers and helping build out infrastructure that allows electric cars to drive and charge around cities. China is also betting big on solar energy as well in 2019 over a 3^rd of world solar panels are estimated to be installed in China, but war on pollution promises to be long run. 4 decades of break neck economic growth has turn China into world biggest carbon box and it is still going to depend on coal for years to come.

Written by: Muhammad Hamid Khan