Confidence strengthened in "Green Olympics" |
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2008-07-30 00:00 |
BEIJING, July 29 (Chinaview) -- A long expected rainfall sprinkled most parts of
Although hot and humid weather and persisting haze have haunted the city for almost a week, its confidence in a "Green Olympics" has even been strengthened. "I think a lot of things have been done and the efforts are positive. What I have noticed is a very definite effort to clean up the city," as Director of Special Events at Associated Press Bud Weydert said to Chinaview.cn. " A senior International Olympic Committee (IOC) official knows better about "Most of the people see the fog, they say it's pollution. But we know here it's not pollution. It's mist, a fact of the nature," IOC's Olympic Games executive director Gilbert Felli noted. Felli expected the air quality in the city to improve further with more rains in the coming days. On last Friday, the latest data released by the Beijing Municipal Government showed major air pollutants, such as carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide and particle matter emitted by vehicles, had dropped by 20 percent compared to the earlier period. In the current month, 22 out of the first 25 days reached the "blue sky" standard -- days with fairly good air quality, said Li Wei, deputy secretary general of the Municipal Government. From the very beginning, In order to achieve the goal, Also, it has closed polluting factories in the city and some neighboring areas, stopped most construction projects, and removed vehicles below emission standards. The most significant step over the years, however, was a thorough relocation of the gigantic Capital Steel company which used to occupy a large area in west " "The amount of money has been put in environmental protection is very impressive," added Mulvenney, who has been living in "The most important thing we have noticed about is Source: Xinhua |