Environment: Some Real Action at Last?

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China’s environment is, as most people who pay attention to world events are at least vaguely aware, a complete nightmare. Rivers are so polluted they turn strange chemical colors (see my colleague Susie Jakes’ post on this here), hundreds of thousands of Chinese die every year from respiratory diseases caused by the foul air, hundreds of million of Chinese don’t have access to clean drinking water, factories dump their noxious waste wherever they want with seeming impunity, and so on. So why doesn’t the government do something about this? With its principal concern the prevention of an eruption of what it calls “social disorder,” you’d think Beijing would simply enforce the admirable rules that already exist and start what will certainly be the biggest clean up in history. After all, as one U.S. official told me on a trip to Washington in the fall of 2006, of all the possible causes of serious social unrest, a riot sparked by a major environmental disaster that causes large scale casualties is “top of the list.”

But even as warnings from officials at the State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA) grow grimmer and more apocalyptic, nothing gets done. SEPA simply doesn’t seem to have the power to rein in polluters and Beijing doesn’t seem to want to expend the political capital needed to bring local governments in line and get them to enforce controls on companies that are responsible for much of the pollution. But that could be changing. On Jan 11, SEPA number two, the outspoken Pan Yue, said four of China’s biggest power producing companies will not be allowed to build new power projects until they correct environmental problems at existing generating facilities.

According to a official media accounts, Pan Yue, said the “four power companies built and started to run power plants without ever receiving certification or an environmental assessment from SEPA, as they are required to do by law. (The companies are the Datang International Power Generation Co., Ltd, the Huaneng Group, the Huadian Corporation and the Guodian Corporation.) Power producers in Hebei, Shanxi, Guizhou and Shandong provinces will also not be allowed to expand for the same reason.

Pan said SEPA also wants local officials who provided approval for the projects to be investigated. The latest inspection results from the SEPA show that there are 82 illegal construction projects throughout the country, involving iron and steel and other metallurgy projects, along with electric generation, and other sectors that had a combined investment of 112.3 billion yuan (about 14.4 billion U.S. dollars).”

I have to confess that on reading this the first time, I pretty much dismissed it as just another empty gesture by the toothless SEPA. But this morning I got an email from an environmentalist friend that made me reconsider. In response to my question about whether this news actually meant the tide might be turning, he had this to say:

They did a similar thing about 2 years ago. That was termed an ‘environmental storm’ by the media. But then nothing really changed much, despite the storm. I think there is an internal storm going on within the government between those who have lots of vested interest to see economic development goes on at any price and those who think that social disparity, environmental deterioration etc. are worrying enough that some economic projects simply have to be stopped or reviewed.

While one may doubt whether SEPA will get what it wants this time, I do think such actions need to be taken seriously. Pan or SEPA wouldn’t do this kind of thing if there weren’t sufficient support within the internal power bloc. So it does reflect a certain political (or development) thinking within the high level leadership. And ultimately, whether SEPA succeed in the end or not, the process itself is significant: the first environment storm sparked off lots of media and public attention and debate about environmental impact assessment, about development, about implementation of environment laws etc. In a country like China, this is much needed, creating space for them to get or ask for more power.

In support of his point that even if this only encourages more public debate, it is a good thing, my friend (who didn’t want me to use his name as he has to deal with government officials) pointed to an article on the issue by a professor at Zhong Shan University in Guangzhou, Guo Weiqing. Guo wrote that strengthening the power of regulatory agencies is only part of the solution. Beside ‘public power’, it is also necessary to have the ‘second leg’ which is ‘citizen rights’… Everyone has the right to a good environment ….(and) the social activities and the public opinion which are based on the citizens’ rights and aimed at environmental protection are crucial and indeed the most fundamental power by which further environmental deterioration can be prevented.

Power to the people indeed. And more power to the professor for suggesting that it is the little guy who will really make the difference. In fact, SEPA’s Pan and others have already said that ordinary people, NGOs and local journalists will have to participate in exposing polluters. But that again comes back to just how far Beijing and how far the cadres in Zhongnanhai will go to protect whistle blowers. Right now it remains a very dangerous business indeed. Activist Sun Xiaodi, who spent years campaigning against the effects of contamination from uranium mining in the remote province of Gansu, is reportedly (Human Rights in China report, here – though only for those outside the Great Firewall) under house arrest and being refused permission by local officials to travel to Beijing for cancer treatment. Ironically, it was the high incidence of cancer among villagers living near the mine that prompted him to start campaigning in the first place. Now if Sun is honored by Beijing for his activities, then I would really believe the central government was serious. In the meantime, despite my friend’s more optimistic tone, I’ll hope for the best and expect more of the same.

SDBE