The Economist (September 3)
“An epic struggle looms. It will transform daily life as profoundly as cars did in the 20th century: reinventing transport and reshaping cities, while also dramatically reducing road deaths and pollution.” Across several industries companies have grasped “the transformative potential of electric, self-driving cars, summoned on demand.” With Uber poised to lead this race, “technology firms including Apple, Google and Tesla are investing heavily in autonomous vehicles; from Ford to Volvo, incumbent carmakers are racing to catch up.”
Tags: Apple, Autonomous vehicles, Carmakers, Cars, Cities, Daily life, Electric, Ford, Google, Pollution, Reinventing, Roads, Self-driving, Struggle, Tesla, Transformative potential, Transport, Uber, Volvo
Institutional Investor (January 3)
“The most powerful influence on current and future climate mitigation and practice is the sleeping giant: the consumer. When people wake up in the morning frightened that the West Antarctic Ice Sheet could detach from the continental shelf and cause an abrupt sea level change and all the geophysical mayhem that could accompany such an event, they might then make purchasing decisions calculated to alter commercial, industrial, municipal, national and international pollution practices and management.”
Tags: Climate mitigation, Commercial, Consumer, Industrial, Influence, Pollution, Purchasing decisions, Sea level change, Sleeping giant, West Antarctic Ice Sheet
Financial Times (November 24)
“‘Lung washing tours’ are the new thing in Chinese tourism.” Sales have taken off as people seek refuge from the polluted air, but these often require vast treks to reach a place with clean air. “The truth is that despite what the tour operators say, fleeing pollution is not all that easy in today’s China – no matter how much money you spend (and carbon dioxide you emit) getting away.”
New York Times (October 2)
Last week, President Obama “created the largest marine preserve in the world,” expanding it more than five-fold from 87,000 square miles to nearly half a million square miles. “At a time when the world’s oceans are threatened by rampant pollution, overfishing and climate change, the benefits of Mr. Obama’s decision will be profound, particularly if other countries now follow the United States’ excellent example.”
Tags: Climate change, Marine preserve, Obama, Oceans, Overfishing, Pollution, Threatened, U.S.
New York Times (August 17)
China is both the world’s largest consumer of coal and the world’s largest producer of CO2 emissions. Encouragingly, that may be set to change. “The wretched air in China’s cities is forcing Chinese officials to change their energy policies. If they do a good job tackling local pollution, they could also have a big impact on climate change.” Details are still scarce, but could include a ban on the use of coal in urban areas by 2020.
Tags: Ban, China, Cities, Climate change, CO2 emissions, Coal, Consumer, Energy policies, Officials, Pollution, Producer, Urban areas
Wall Street Journal (December 5, 2013)
Chinese “leaders are attempting to create an innovation ecosystem whereby government ministries funnel money through universities, think-tanks, businesses of all sizes, cities, real-estate developers and venture-capital investors.” Despite massive governmental support, “China still has trouble retaining its best and brightest talents onshore…. A growing number of Chinese scientists who had returned to China from the West are now leaving again.” While there are many reasons, including environmental pollution, the stifling political environment seems to be the largest factor. Innovative people generally don’t want to live where “they can’t network on Facebook or voice freewheeling opinions on any topic, business or political, under the sun.”
Tags: China, Chinese, Environment, Facebook, Government, Innovativon, Investors, Ministries, Network, Opinions, Politics, Pollution, Real estate, Scientists, Talent, Think-tanks, Venture-capital, West
Bloomberg (July 11)
“Fewer than one percent of the 500 largest cities in China meet the air-quality standards recommended by the World Health Organization. Seven are ranked among the 10 most-polluted cities in the world, according to a 2012 report by the Asian Development Bank.” But increasing protests suggest, change may be in store. “In China, the authorities aren’t deaf to the protests.”
Los Angeles Times (July 8)Los Angeles Times (July 8)
“Life expectancy is 5.5 years lower in northern China than in the south because of heavy air pollution, a study examining 20 years of data concludes…. The specificity of the study published Monday may provide a jolt to policymakers and the public as debate intensifies over how much China has sacrificed to achieve rapid economic growth.” Due to a tradition of coal burning, suspended particulate matter north of the Huai River was on average 55% higher than in the south, lowering life expectancy for those in the north where the researches estimate that in the 1990s alone, the half billion residents “collectively lost 2.5 billion years from their lives.”“Life expectancy is 5.5 years lower in northern China than in the south because of heavy air pollution, a study examining 20 years of data concludes…. The specificity of the study published Monday may provide a jolt to policymakers and the public as debate intensifies over how much China has sacrificed to achieve rapid economic growth.” Due to a tradition of coal burning, suspended particulate matter north of the Huai River was on average 55% higher than in the south, lowering life expectancy for those in the north where the researches estimate that in the 1990s alone, the half billion residents “collectively lost 2.5 billion years from their lives.”
Tags: China, Coal burning, Economic growth, Huai River, Life expectancy, Particulate matter, Policymakers, Pollution, Sacrificed
Financial Times (May 7, 2013)
“Pollution in China is now so bad that it threatens to obscure the vision being laid out by Xi Jinping, the new president…. The leadership needs to rethink its national goals. After all, what is the point of rapid economic growth if it creates cities in which it is dangerous to breathe?”
Tags: Air quality, China, Cities, Economic growth, Goals, Pollution, Xi Jinping
Wall Street Journal (March 15)
China is being forced to focus on the environment due to chronic air quality issues in Beijing and the discovery of 6,000 dead pigs in tributaries that provide Shanghai’s drinking water. “The pork soup scandal, as it has been dubbed, hits the trifecta of Chinese mistrust of government: lack of a plan to protect the public interest instead of companies and officials, political corruption that fails to hold polluters accountable, and withholding timely information when disaster strikes.”
Tags: Air quality, Beijing, China, Environment, Government, Pigs, Pollution, Shanghai, Water quality
