Wang Xiangwei – Updated on Jun 30, 2008 – SCMP As soon as President Hu Jintao came to power in late 2002, he introduced a regular study session for all members of the Communist Party’s Politburo. This was aimed at educating and providing a forum for top leaders to discuss strategic and significant national issues. [...]
Posts from ‘June, 2008’
Air Pollution vs. Allergies and Respiratory Illnesses
Choke hold Hong Kong’s increasingly polluted air could be to blame for more allergies and respiratory ills than we realise Hazel Parry – Updated on Jun 30, 2008 – SCMP It may start with a few sneezes and a runny nose, progress to a cough and then turn into a full-blown hacking wheeze. At first [...]
Sole Survivors
Monday, June 30, 2008 – The Standard German and Japanese machines whirl endlessly in one of Hong Kongs few remaining spinning mills as the droning sound of raw US cotton being spun into thread for clothing made in the mainland hums 24 hours a day. The mill is one of only two remaining in the [...]
Cleaning Up Hong Kong’s Act
Just the ticket for cleaning up our act Thomas Tang – SCMP – Updated on Jun 28, 2008 The recent news that Hong Kong has launched a new form of international emissions trading to help the city fulfil its obligations under the Kyoto Protocol comes, literally, as a breath of fresh air for local companies. [...]
Beijing Pollution A Shocker
Coach: Beijing pollution ‘a shocker …just awful’ 5:00AM Saturday June 28, 2008 – The New Zealand Herald – By Terry Maddaford Pollution levels in Beijing are so high that the Black Sticks women’s hockey team plan a change to their itinerary, delaying their arrival in the Olympic city until the last-possible minute. And the concern [...]
We’ve Been Blogged
Clear The Air’s News Blog has recently been reviewed by the editors of Blogged.com. A big congrats goes out to our webmaster (that would be me) for putting together such a ‘great’ blog and keeping it up to date to achieve a score of 8.4 out of (10) in the Society category of Blogged.com. This [...]
Climate Change and Refugees
Flood of refugees Updated on Jun 27, 2008 – SCMP If we thought that tackling global warming meant only signing and adhering to agreements to cut emissions of the pollutants that are causing temperatures to rise, we have been misled. Climate change is about much more, as ballooning food and fuel prices prove – as [...]
Smoke Screen
Updated on Jun 26, 2008 – SCMP A certain amount of government spin is inevitable, but it is also time for officials to improve the message. The worst thing is to obfuscate and hope the public won’t see the fudge. A member of the public recently showed me a letter she had written to environmental [...]
Scrapping Fuel Tax Is Wrong
Updated on Jun 26, 2008 – SCMP I cannot believe that our administration is scrapping duty on Euro V diesel just to please a minority of angry vehicle operators. At the same time, the very same operators allow their drivers to keep thousands of engines idling and waste a vast amount of fuel while polluting [...]
Going Green – Search For Solutions
CNN GOES GREEN IN SEARCH FOR SOLUTIONS “Going Green: Search for Solutions” airs June 30 – July 6 Clear The Air would like to bring to your attention that starting on the 30th of June, CNN International will air a week of special programming searching for innovative yet tangible solutions to existing environmental problems. In [...]