The eco news headlines are all bad, but is it really?

I'll comment on my new apartment with photos later. Markvs asked for some pics and I've taken a few, but haven't uploaded any. They are coming, though.

Here's a bit of ecological news I picked up. Don't drink water from the Yellow River:

"The Yellow River, the second-longest in China, has seen its water quality deteriorate rapidly in the last few years, as discharge from factories increases and water levels drop because of diversion for booming cities.

The river supplies a region chronically short of water but rich in industry.

The Yellow River Conservancy Committee said 33.8 percent of the river's water sampled registered worse than level 5, meaning it's unfit for drinking, aquaculture, industrial use and even agriculture, according to criteria used by the United Nations Environmental Program.

Only 16.1 percent of the river samples reached level 1 or 2 — water considered safe for household use.

Industry and manufacturing made up 70 percent of the discharge into the river, the notice said, with 23 percent coming from households and 6.4 percent from other sources. The notice did not identify specific pollutants."

The numbers above are not relevant, but what is, is the fact that the pollution is being acknowledeged. The real hope anyone can have at this point is that no other agency comes up with a competing study saying the water is safe (with percentages of their own.) Remember, there is no need to worry for the environment per se - you need to worry for the people living in the environment.

The news post lists a few other previous events related to water quality. Note this one: "In February pollution turned part of a major river system in central China red and foamy, forcing authorities to cut water supplies to as many as 200,000 people."

That is a case where nothing was done until the water was visibly unusable. Red and foamy. The problem is that the factories near the rivers are important to the local citizens. Working in a factory can offer a steady, safe and comfortable conditions compared to farming. And I'm not joking. Amid all the crap you hear about labour laws in China the factories are important sources for employment in many areas. You can't close them and say "go environment." But at least in this case, we are noting the water pollution before the river is red and foamy. There's hope that it doesn't become as bad.

Perhaps it will be easier to control pollution growth next year. The forecast is lower, coming to a 7.5% economic growth. That's the lowest rate since 1990. Keep it in mind when you evaluate environmental news in the coming year. The challenges are huge and control mechanisms often need to be built from the ground up. Small factories and shops have none existent or next to none environmental control.

But remember, China is trying. You might have heard Hong Kong has natual gas taxis running around, but did you know so does Guangzhou? Actually, Guangzhou has natural gas taxis and electric buses. I've even taken a trip in a domestically produced gas taxi in Guangzhou, very few cities let alone countries have similar setups. On a related note, Shell just agreed to sell two million tonnes of liquified naural gas to Petrochina under a 20 year contract.

The full newsposts are available at:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081125/ap_on_re_as/as_china_polluted_river
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081125/ap_on_bi_ge/as_china_economy
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081125/ap_on_bi_ge/as_china_shell_lng

OP out.