14 DAY TRIAL // The city of Beijing in China has come up with a new solution to its pollution crisis. Thus, high officials in the area have announced that, in an attempt to improve on local air quality, certain construction projects are to be kept from being implemented.
More precisely, the city is to no longer welcome new oil refining, steel, cement, and thermal power plants, at least for a while.
Besides, facilities of this kind that are already up and running in various parts of Beijing will not be granted legal permission to expand, Oil Price reports.
Should things go according to plan, this ban on the construction or expansion of facilities known to contribute to air pollution will come into effect this coming March.
High officials in Beijing have not yet released information concerning how this new piece of legislation will influence local air quality.
However, they did say that, by the end of this year, the city hopes to cut its PM 2.5 (i.e. fine particulate matter measuring less than 2.5 micrometers in diameter) emissions by roughly 5%.
As detailed in a report issued by the World Health Organization last year, these airborne particles can cause people to develop cancer when breathed in in considerable amounts.
“After thoroughly reviewing the latest available scientific literature, the world's leading experts convened by the IARC Monographs Programme concluded that there is sufficient evidence that exposure to outdoor air pollution causes lung cancer,” the Organization said.
“Particulate matter, a major component of outdoor air pollution, was evaluated separately and was also classified as carcinogenic to humans,” it added.
Hence, it can be argued that the ban on the construction and expansion of oil refining, steel, cement, and thermal power plants has high chances to greatly benefit public health.
Apart from implementing this bans, the city of Beijing plans to limit the number of polluting vehicles driven up and down its streets, and also ban the burning of high carbon fuels in certain areas.