Whatever your stance is on climate change, to deny that it is the greatest economic growth opportunity of the next several decades would be foolish.

well, no one needs cleaner air and water more than China....I never knew you could actually choke on air before my time there

I've not been to China but 'ditto' what Antara said. And I wonder how they choked out that kind of money? (enter sarcasm here).

“The inky smoke belched by chimneys in Chinese cities such as Linfen and Datong contains mercury, a metal linked to fetal and child development problems. Trace amounts of the poison can take less than a week to reach Oregon, where research suggests that about one-fifth of the mercury entering the Willamette River comes from abroad -- increasingly from China.”

I suppose I have a love/hate relationship with China after living there for almost a year. The people were so incredibly kind and really quite gentle and beautiful....but I could literally feel the "pressure/tension" lift when I flew from China to Thailand....a freer sensation, hard to describe..
But nothing prepared me for the air in Shanghai! Or the spitting that goes on all over......uuugh.

For the health and future of China, I do pray they mean business with this cleanup. It really awful!

*it really IS awful* (correction