Where are the bodies?
“Doctors at two of the city’s major hospitals said the number of patients with respiratory problems had increased sharply in the past few days, state media reported.” [AFP]
Where are the bodies?
“Doctors at two of the city’s major hospitals said the number of patients with respiratory problems had increased sharply in the past few days, state media reported.” [AFP]
Very simple. I am my own EPA. When I stop behind a school bus at a traffic light and it poisons me with dense blue diesel exaust, I call the bus company (Laidlaw, most of the time) and tell them it is unacceptable. I call them again in a week or two and check whether they have done anything about it. It works.
Visible air pollutants are an eyesore. It also seems reasonable that they would be hard on sensitive people, increasing the number of asthma episodes and the like — except that studies in LA fail to bear this out.
That said, particulate matter has to be a health threat to some degree and reasonable control measures make sense. There is a place for government regulation of air quality, but how do you keep the government beast on its leash?
Even so, Beijing air remains far more transparent that the EPA air.