China takes extraordinary efforts to reduce pollution

As China prepares for the Olympic Games, it would do well to study the extraordinary means being used to clean the air in Beijing before the world's athletes arrive. Environmentalists everywhere will be watching to see how effective China's efforts are. Consider these comments from a recent issue of the Asia Times:

The Beijing Olympics is estimated to be the costliest in the long history of the Games - the city has already spent 10 times the US$4 billion that Athens did on infrastructure for the 2004 Games. Officials speak of a "once in a lifetime opportunity'' for China to showcase its modernized capital and its cultural and economic advances. In Beijing, the ascent of modern China is symbolically reflected in the seemingly overnight rise of brand-new and thoroughly futuristic buildings, such as the "bird's nest" national stadium and the "water cube" indoor swimming center, that aim to place the city in the ranks of the world's avant-garde architectural capitals.