'Growth first' mentality undermines China's war on pollution
Action to fight mainland's losing war against pollution is being thwarted by lack of penalties and officials more focused on economic growth
After most cities in northern China choked on thick smog for most of the winter, the mainland's environment ministry has come up with its own theme for World Environment Day today - "breathing the same air and working together".
The official theme promoted by the UN Environment Programme this year - Think.Eat. Save - focuses on cutting food waste.
The mainland theme ties in with the regular rhetoric of senior environmental officials and even top leaders that the country faces a prolonged and arduous battle - 20 years or more by some estimates - to remedy its severe air pollution and that city dwellers should accept greater responsibility by driving less and eating less barbecued food.
But the central government's commitment to cleaning up the toxic smog has been called into question by the State Council's failure to approve a highly anticipated national action plan on air pollution control in time for the World Environment Day.
A draft was ready for State Council review as early as April, and contained some elements that help curb air pollution. But the delay suggests the plan could have met strong opposition from other ministries, which are heavily influenced by state-owned enterprises (SOEs) or local authorities focused on economic growth.
