China's top environmental watchdog yesterday vowed to expand the
tough green measures to more industries and regions to ensure that
approvals for projects found wanting are suspended.
Vice-minister of the State Environmental Protection
Administration (SEPA) Pan Yue said the next round of battle against
foul water and air would focus on industries and regions that had
not reduced pollution and energy consumption, areas along polluted
rivers and lakes, and places suffering from serious pollution
accidents and having high potential environmental risks.
China set its target of cutting energy consumption by 20 percent
per unit of gross domestic product (GDP) and major pollutants by 10
percent from 2005 to 2010.
But it flunked its first test last year. Its Chemical Oxygen
Demand (COD), an index of water pollution, and sulphur dioxide
(SO2) emission grew by 1.9 percent and 2.4 percent in 2006,
according to SEPA figures.
Following the failure, SEPA took the "strictest measure of
project approval restriction" a couple of weeks ago to crack down
on two of the most powerful and profitable groups in China: local
governments and large energy providers, Pan said.
It suspended the approvals for all new projects in four
industrial cities Tangshan in Hebei Province, Luliang in Shanxi
Province, Liupanshui in Guizhou Province and Laiwu in Shandong
Province.
Four of China's five biggest energy groups, Huaneng, Datang,
Huadian and Guodian, too, were not spared. They were ordered to
halt all new projects.
"Huaneng Group has shut down the polluting generators and is
installing desulfurization devices at its Wulashan Power Plant in
Inner Mongolia," Huaneng Group Assistant General Manager Hu Shihai
told China News Agency recently.
The other three firms, too, have shut down their offending
generators, and are discussing with the local governments ways to
install desulfurization equipment.
Despite that Pan has warned that some projects could still be
running without approval from related departments, ignoring SEPA's
warning.
(China Daily February 1, 2007)
