Our pollution problem seems utterly hopeless. But other cities have been where we are – and cleaned up. Five pollution-busters who beat the smog in their own cities give some advice to Hong Kong.
Denis Hayes
Founder of “Earth Day,” president of green group the Bullitt Foundation in Seattle, Washington and named one of the “Heroes of the Planet” by Time Magazine.
“When you drive your car, you get enormous benefit from the transport you drive, but the tailpipe exhaust doesn’t effect you. So there’s no way to internalize that. Since the burden is placed on the city at large, the only way to clean it up is to make it a rule. If you’re going to have a certain car in Hong Kong, it gets inspected. If there’s a problem, you don’t get a license.
“You can’t hold a democracy protest in China, but if you want to have a demonstration against air pollution, that’s more tolerated. I’ve been astonished that the first demonstrations that often spring up around the world are environmental issues. This is where people learn how to be participants and learn democracy.
“Attend a shareholders meeting. Even if you get 25 percent of the shareholders voting against a company’s policies, that’s very effective. It gets their attention. Make sure the company reports on its measures and its greenhouse gases and emissions. If you get a huge amount of people voting against them, after a year or so it’s so embarrassing, they’ll start reporting it. And once they start doing that, they’ll clean it up.”
Barbara Finamore
Senior attorney and director of the National Resource Defense Council’s China program, which has been helping to shape regulations under the Clean Air Act for 35 years.
‘‘China's national government is very concerned about the increasing pollution and health costs. They’ve just passed a five-year plan which, if it works, would be called the largest greenhouse gas reduction in the world. The local governments, on the other hand, are often part of the problem. They are unwilling to crack down on factories because they own shares in them or rely on them for tax dollars.”