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THE Beijing Olympics will go down uniquely in history as the Games that probably exercised the minds of organising officials more than the bodies of competing athletes. Smog has yet to disappear completely over the new landmark 'Bird's Nest' stadium and other venues barely a week before the opening of the Games. Beijing has promised literally to clear the air, and heroic efforts may yet result in blue skies. Much, however, is at stake. There would be loss of face if the International Olympic Committee cancels or reschedules endurance events if it feels the polluted air threatens competitors' health. Fears have emerged that ground-level ozone and particulates may irritate eyes and lungs, affecting performance. Some top athletes have decided to skip the Games for that reason. Others prefer to remain outside Beijing as long as possible. For example, the Canadian track-and-field team is training and waiting in Singapore until the last possible moment before braving Beijing's foul air. The Japanese contingent will pack face masks to filter out pollutants.
Billing the Games as the Green Olympics, China will have to deliver on the air pollution score as convincingly as it is doing on the security front with robust and visible measures against terrorist threats. It will have to match the political and public relation skills with which it has defended its Tibet and human rights records. In tackling environmental issues that are under such intense external scrutiny, only sustained measures will suffice. Current measures to reduce pollution - restricting car use, closing factories and suspending building projects - are only temporary. The motivation will likely disappear when the last foreign athlete and the international media leave.
To make a real difference, the authorities will need to persist long after the Olympics. Of greater and continuing benefit to Chinese citizens are measures such as converting coal-fired power plants to natural gas, building new subway lines, upgrading domestic heating with geothermal heat, introducing solar and wind energy, and improving water treatment. The government has indicated its seriousness in requiring new vehicles to match stringent European emission standards. It is a start. To paraphrase a Chinese saying, the journey towards clean air begins with a small step away from fossil fuels. The smog may or may not lift in time, but Chinese leaders and officials should learn the Games' enduring as well as expedient environmental lesson.
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