Beijing wins battle for blue skies — but the poor are paying a price

[Amir Bernat]

New article in the Washington post on the Beijing air quality battle from a wide point of view.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/beijing-wins-battle-for-blue-skies--but-the-poor-are-paying-a-price/2018/01/12/52f04468-f6f3-11e7-91af-31ac729add94_story.html?hpid=hp_hp-more-top-stories_beijingair-500am%3Ahomepage%2Fstory&utm_term=.38102bd791a7

One year ago, China’s capital city was in the grip of suffocating and potentially fatal smog that made life a misery and breathing downright dangerous. 

This month, the air in Beijing has been clear and the skies blue. 

Favorable wind and weather have played a part, but this is no fluke. 

Last year as a whole, Beijing recorded its largest improvement in air quality on record. The average concentration of tiny “PM2.5” particulates fell by more than 20 percent, according to Greenpeace East Asia. 

In a mad dash to meet year-end air pollution targets and combat the traditional winter smog, 5,600 environmental inspectors were hired from around the country and dispatched into the industrial heartland surrounding the capital.