China Getting Serious About Environment

Country KOs GM deal with manufacturer over environmental worries

(NEWSER) - Beijing will halt GM’s sale of the Hummer brand to a Chinese machinery firm over pollution concerns, according to Chinese state radio. The purchase would run counter to the government’s goal of reducing pollution caused by manufacturing, the BBC reports. The Chinese firm shrugged off the report. “The fact that it is from an article from a state media organization does not mean it is government policy,” the company said in a statement. More»

Green innovator gets unfair rap as environmental offender

(NEWSER) - The world's attitude toward China's environmentalism is "hypocritical and decidedly unfair," writes Fred Pearce in Yale Environment 360—this coming from someone who has "literally held my nose at the foul air." Yes, China's "development zeal" has it doing "the bad things that most of the world does," but it's also the world's leader in green innovation, waste recycling, and alternative energy sources. More»

China outlaws use, manufacture of thin, disposable bags starting in June

(NEWSER) - The Chinese government says it will prohibit stores from distributing free, disposable plastic bags starting this June, reports the AP. Amid growing fears about the environmental future of the world's largest nation, Beijing is asking people to use baskets or cloth carriers instead of the thin plastic bags that been dubbed "white pollution," as they clog garbage dumps and litter the landscape. More»

Huge dam project nixed but many more on the way

(NEWSER) - China has decided to scrap plans for a huge dam at Tiger Leaping Gorge on the Yangtze River, the Guardian reports. The dam would have left a popular tourist area underwater and forced 100,000 people from their homes. The decision is a rare victory for Chinese green activists, but they face many other battles against big dam projects in the region. More»

Presenting the world's most polluted places.

(NEWSER) - Millions around the world live in soot-blackened cities and toxic wastelands. Time offers a reverse travel guide to the most polluted places on Earth:

1. Linfen, China
2. Tianjin, China
3. Sukinda, India