Even Hong Kong's best efforts may not help to clear our air
City's anti-pollution campaign will not end problem as long as the mainland continues to burn coal to satisfy its power demand
Christine Loh Kung-wai, Hong Kong's campaigning Under Secretary for the Environment, has promised us that she will deliver "drastic improvements" in the city's air quality over the next five years.
Yesterday, she pledged to get the very worst-polluting buses and trucks - those that do the most harm to our health - off Hong Kong's streets in the next two years. She also plans to push through legislation forcing ships using Hong Kong's port to switch from burning dirty bunker oil to cleaner, less polluting fuels.
Loh's aims are highly commendable. If she can achieve them, she will deserve high praise indeed.
Alas, however, it is an unfortunate irony that even if Loh does meet her objectives, her success may not be immediately detectable in the form of better pollution-free visibility in Hong Kong's atmosphere.
As China continues to develop, its demand for power will only increase
Although much of the nasty stuff that poisons us the most is indeed pumped out here in our streets, Hong Kong also suffers from what we might call ambient pollution: the murky haze that rolls down from the great mainland industrial concentrations of the Pearl River Delta.