Beijing Installs “Smog Police Force” to Deal with Air Pollution

Chinese officials have announced installing a police force in charge of regulating the emissions level of Beijing. The measure aims to control pollutants produced by garbage incineration, open-air barbecues, biomass burning. Furthermore, the agents will also address dust rising from the capita’s heavily circulated roads.

Cai Qi, Beijing’s mayor hopes that the smog police officers will efficiently address environmental offenses like the ones mentioned before in an effort to successfully clean up the capital’s air and ultimately get rid of persistent polluters. The official statement traveled the country from one end to the other on Saturday, January 7^th, via Xinhua news agency.

Furthermore, Cai Qi was heard saying during a government meeting that the levels of pollution Beijing now experiences are a direct result of weak law enforcement combined with lax supervision. Moreover, during New Years, almost three years after Chinese authorities declared war on smog and air pollution, large areas of northern China were engulfed in thick smog, with dangerous air quality readings in major cities like Tianjin, Beijing, and Xian. As a result of the alarming levels of air toxicity, major cities’ residents were forced to remain indoors.

Also, the smog is responsible for disrupting and grounding several flights, stalled port operations, blanketed entire cities, and altered school calendars. After an investigation was launched into the matter, scientists were able to conclude the smog was caused by unfavorable weather conditions and increased coal use for winter.

In order to prevent future incidents of such magnitude, government officials vowed to make better use of their police force and prosecute local officials and companies at fault for exceeding emissions limits. However, over the course of recent years, China’s environmental legislation was subjected to repeated controversies, making the government’s mission of installing a “smog police department” even harder. In present, the country’s reliance on fossil fuels made the fight against pollution extremely difficult, said Chen Jining, China’s environment minister, on Friday, January 6^th.

However, in spite of China’s struggle, government officials are positive they will be able to address the issue more efficiently than other western countries, Germany included. Ultimately, Chinese officials announced last week the nation is going to plow roughly $361 billion into green power generation by 2020.

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