Say It Ain't So Already

Smog in China Is So Bad, Highways Are Closing

January 9, 2012 at 7:51 PM Leave a comment

I just got these two tweets from China:

And then I did the Google:

Smog, commonly referred to as “fog” by the propagandistic Chinese government, is reeking havoc in China:

(December 7, 2011)  Whether it’s fog or smog, thousands of people have been delayed during the last few days by the almost-opaque air around Beijing Capital International Airport.

The delays since Sunday evening at one of the busiest, most modern airports in the world raise questions about whether air pollution in China has gotten bad enough to derail the country’s economic growth. Nearly 1,000 flights have been canceled and 10 highways in northern China had to be closed due to lack of visibility.

Wow!

Chinese authorities say the murk is fog, purely a weather phenomenon, acknowledging only that there was “light pollution.” The U.S. Embassy in Beijing, which has its own air monitor on the roof, however, reported Sunday night that the index of fine particulate matter had soared to 522 micrograms per cubic meter, which is off the charts. (A reading between 300 and 500 is considered “hazardous.”)

Beijingers bought more than 20,000 face masks on Taobao, a shopping site; and people took to the Internet to mock their government’s reporting of air quality.

“They are treating citizens as idiots,” complained a young man on Sina Weibo, a Twitter-like microblog. A middle-aged man wrote sarcastically, “The city looks like a fairyland but thanks to the government, it is only ‘slight pollution.’”

The poor air quality Tuesday resulted in the cancellation of more than 370 flights. The U.S. Embassy monitor reported the particulate matter as “very unhealthy.”

The life the Chinese are living is brought to you by a government that is bent on development and growth, sans regulation.  This is what the Republicans want to bring to the US of A.  I.e., give corporations free rein to do whatever they want because that CREATE JOBS.  Yeah, so we have (low paying) jobs but then what? We’re can’t take our kids outside, walk the dog or grow veggies in the garden, and we die of emphysema or heart failure on our day off.

Oh, and again, ain’t it great that our “liberal media” seems to have gone into 27/7 campaign coverage mode (due to last until November) so we conveniently don’t hear about things like this?  And, as usual, any “news” that occurs outside the literal borders of the United States isn’t covered. What a disastrous combo.

Entry filed under: 2012 Election, Corporatocracy, Dumbed Down, Fear, Financial Crisis, Nature, Republicans, Including Wingers & "Moderates", The Environment, Weather, Etc., They Think We're Idiots/We ARE Idiots, USA - Third World Country. Tags: pollution in china, poor air quality, weather phenomenon.