Chinese hope pre-Games environmental cleanup is a fresh start
But along with excitement over finally having clean air comes anxiety over possible job losses brought on by pollution restrictions.
TAIYUAN, CHINA — Su Aimin spat on the ground, and admired the result.
"You see, it's white," said the 33-year-old production manager at Taiyuan Iron & Steel, pointing to his saliva. "Before, it was black. I'm not kidding."
Although Beijing is still struggling to make the skies clear for the Olympics, a massive cleanup effort before the Summer Games has given people here a taste of fresh air. They want to keep it that way, but business groups are likely to lobby for an easing of the restrictions.
Even Taiyuan residents acknowledge that improving the environment might come at the cost of some jobs and economic development.
Taiyuan, an industrial city 250 miles southwest of Beijing, has long been considered one of the most polluted in the world. But in recent months, authorities have closed dozens of coal mines and coking operations. In addition, production at steel mills, cement factories and power plants has been cut back or suspended, as it has in several other provinces, to reduce the pollution blowing into Beijing during the Olympics.
"The air now is the best in at least 10 years," said Jin Gongyuan, a professor at Shanxi University of Finance & Economics in Taiyuan.
But the big question for Jin and others in this provincial capital of 3 million is: What will happen after the Olympics?
"Could it be possible that such measures would last longer or even be permanent?" Jin asked. "Not only do foreign athletes need fresher air, we need that too."
Chinese environmental activists hope that the Olympics will usher in an era in which pollution control regulations are taken seriously by government and industry. But many wonder whether strict enforcement can be sustained, especially in areas far from Beijing.
Clear, blue skies are rare in many Chinese cities, which have some of the dirtiest water and filthiest air in the world. In recent years, the government has sought to reorient economic growth in a way that would spare degradation to the environment, but those efforts have been undermined in many places by corruption and an intense focus on development and moneymaking.
The pre-Olympics clean air measures have affected hundreds of factories from northern China's coastal area up to the edge of the Gobi Desert in Inner Mongolia. For the most part, the shutdowns or cuts in output are slated to last until the end of the Paralympics in September.
