The government adopted several measures to deal with Beijing’s serious air pollution problem. In 2014, Beijing’s Mayor Wang Anshun allocated 760 billion yuan to improve the city's air quality. The municipal government also granted subsidies and license plate lottery waivers to those buying Chinese-made cars (mostly electric vehicles (EVs)) and initiated the switch of government fleets to electric. Three years later, in 2017, Beijing launched a new police force, whose sole goal was to fight the persistent smog problem. Their first action as the acting environmental police force was to “crack down on polluters such as open-air barbeques, garbage incineration, biomass burning, and dust from roads". Another large step that the mayor took was to close the city's only coal-fired plant. Nearly a year later, the Chinese government is still desperate for a solution. Although they had seen subtle improvements, 5,600 more environmental inspectors were hired throughout the country and sent into the industrial heartland surrounding Beijing. The government continues to regulate both industrial and private (household) sources of pollution, specifically pollution derived from coal.  

In the long run, I don’t think these measures will prove effective. From the three articles, it is clear that air quality has been a long-term, serious problem for China. It’s also obvious that China’s economic success has sometimes trumped their environmental success. I believe the majority of the air quality improvement efforts can only be made with the right leadership in government to make those decisions. If Beijing has leaders that value their environmental success and allows big polluters to continue operating with little regulations, then the situation will never improve entirely.  

The current air quality in Beijing is an improvement from the air quality in 2014. An article written by Echo Xi states, “The Chinese capital has seen levels of the most harmful particles known as PM2.5 more than halve since the 2013 drive to tackle the problem started.” She also cites the municipal ecology and environment bureau and explains that the 2019 average concentration of 42 micrograms per cubic metre was 53% lower than the 2013 average and that the average concentration of PM10 particles and nitrogen dioxide were on track to meet their national targets. 

I really can’t imagine comparing Oregon’s air pollution to that of Beijing. Although in higher populated and urban areas, there are restrictions and regulations to control the pollution that is allowed. The Cascade Policy Institute has been monitoring Oregon’s status since the beginning of the new year. A preliminary assessment of the state’s polluting emissions showed that Oregon is meeting its 2020 greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction goals.  

I think it’s less effective for the main areas of focus to be the reduction of pollution caused by “open-air barbeques, garbage incineration, biomass burning, and dust from roads”. Since Beijing’s economy is made up mostly of industrial leaders, I think it would be more efficient to focus on pollution reduction through finding better allocation of resources, increasing the recycling life of those resources, and replacing inefficient forms of production with “greener” processes.  

What makes the efficient amount of pollution nonzero? In a study conducted by Ralph R. Frasca, Ph.D., he concludes that "it is not efficient to reduce pollution to zero.” He continues to explain that the costs associated with making such drastic reductions are likely to exceed the benefits. Much like anything else in economics, you must find an equilibrium. It’s highly unlikely that an equilibrium will land on “zero pollution” AND positive production levels.   

Pollution itself is never a benefit. However, it is sometimes the biproduct of useful resources and assets. It’s impossible to have any kind of production without the associated pollution and every economy relies on their own sources of productions. Indirect “benefits” of pollution could be shown through the opening or expansion of a production plant that offers new technology and more jobs.  

“Beijing Air Getting Much Cleaner as Result of 'War on Pollution'.” South China Morning Post, February 17, 2020. https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3044747/beijings-air-quality-shows-significant-improvements-war (Links to an external site.). 

“China Looks for Blue-Sky Solutions as Smog Worsens.” CNN. Cable News Network, February 25, 2014. https://www.cnn.com/2014/02/24/world/asia/beijing-smog-solutions/ (Links to an external site.). 

Denyer, Simon. “Beijing Wins Battle for Blue Skies - but the Poor Are Paying a Price.” The Washington Post. WP Company, January 13, 2018. https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/beijing-wins-battle-for-blue-skies--but-the-poor-are-paying-a-price/2018/01/12/52f04468-f6f3-11e7-91af-31ac729add94_story.html (Links to an external site.). 

Frasca, Ralph R. “Optimal Pollution.” Optimal Pollution, September 18, 2017. http://academic.udayton.edu/PMIC/Exercises/Exer6-1.htm (Links to an external site.). 

Kennedy, Merrit. “Smog Police: New Beijing Force Created To Tackle Air Pollution.” NPR. NPR, January 9, 2017. https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/01/09/508965737/smog-police-new-beijing-force-created-to-tackle-air-pollution (Links to an external site.). 

“Oregon Is Meeting Its 2020 GHG Emissions Goals, Depending on How You Measure It.” Cascade Policy Institute, February 25, 2020. https://cascadepolicy.org/environment/oregon-is-meeting-its-2020-ghg-emissions-goals-depending-on-how-you-measure-it/?fbclid=IwAR1EtPqcD1N1FKbTNCVVNgtRzLCI3OqLIKp9oiuFt_r_HH7FJ0qThmI174U (Links to an external site.).