China has been getting a lot of press lately for their “Green” efforts- some of it from me. I’m impressed with the number of projects they have going, both for their size and for the what sounds like the dedication of their government to their success. New York Times columnist Thomas Freidman has been giving them similar kudos, both for their business prowess and promise in general and for the amount of that growth that looks to be in the green sphere.

Now they are in the news again, for both good and bad reasons around clean air. China’s air quality is unquestionably low, as their industrial revolution started well after the U.S. and they have been playing speedy catch-up in the Western model- essentially beating us at our own game. On the one hand that means they are taking away a lot of the U.S. manufacturing jobs, and on the other hand that means they are polluting their air and water at a fast and unsustainable rate.

I like the most recent news for two reasons: It is honest about the problem and it sets forth a positive spin on the solution. Here’s what I mean:

Beijing mayor Guo Jinlong said this week that the city faces an "extremely serious" pollution problem. Fair enough.

Reason #1: I like this because it is honest. He’s not saying that it is getting worse, or throwing out some numbers that distract from what is going on, or trying to compare it to other dirty cities. He’s admitting the problem.

Reason #2: I like his solution. His plan is to go for more of what he calls "blue sky days" than Beijing had in 2009. Perfect. That’s not saying they will make an effort to reduce the amount of smog in the city, because how do you measure that and who do you hold accountable? It’s also not saying that they want to have less days of bad smog (though he is effectively saying that, I understand)- what he is saying is a positive way to look at it. He’s saying we have a problem: Our goal is to create more than X # of good days.

When I lived in LA we would frequently be notified of a smog day in the warm months when it was advised that we not go outside, or not spend as much time outside. That is a horrible, disheartening thing to hear. We never heard about the days when it was nice out- when maybe we could have been encouraged to go outside. I mean, it would be nice to have an announcement that said: Today is a Blue Sky Day. Go outside as much as you can. School is canceled. Everyone gets off work at 2:00pm. Now that would get people working toward clean air.

Beijing’s smog problem is a result of ballooning private car use and fast industry development. It’s no secret- their emissions are increasing fast and so is their smog. Anyone who wants to see some evidence that all the smoke we put into the air is damaging the sky just go there (or LA).

His stated goal is to have 73% “blue sky days” in 2010. To do this he says the city will be investing in more public transportation and increasing the amount of clean energy used in the city.

"We will control the total quantity of pollutants generated and undertake trial reforms in the trade of pollution discharge rights. We will deepen the development strategy of giving priority for public transportation, and build a green commuting system that gives priority to rail transit and emphasizes surface public transportation," said Jinlong.

Good on you, Mr. Jinlong.

 Photo Credit: kevindooley (via Flickr under CCL)