Give or take a few cars, growing concerns over poor air quality, the
Beijing officials have just taken 300,000 cars off the Capital’s roads
as the Summer Olympics approach.
But nearly seven years at the competition was awarded to China, the latest move to clean the air may have come too late.
Beijing officials announced July 1 they have mandated taking 300,000
high-emission cars off the roads as a combined measure to ease
congested and to clean up the air.
The move comes as a reaction to the International Olympic Committee
considering moving some endurance events to different venues because of
the poor air quality.
The
300,000 "yellow grade" cars, which fall short of the city's
benchmark emissions standards, are banned from Beijing's roads until
Sept. 20. Authorities had also banned trucks, tractors and other
"low-speed cargo vehicles" from entering Beijing municipal limits from
neighboring provinces.
Beijing claims to have already taken 50 percent of government cars off
the roads, and will ban private cars (via odd or even license plate
numbers) on alternate days from July 20.
Authorities hope to take 45 percent of the city's 3.29 million cars off
the roads and slash car emissions by 63 percent. Temporary construction
halts and factory closures, beginning July 20, are also seen as ways to
help improve air quality.
Nonetheless, all of the last-minute maneuvering could be futile. The
country's top environmental chief in May warned Beijing could only
guarantee clean air with favorable weather conditions during the Games.
