Climate change still out of sight and out of mind

• Source: Global Times
• [21:41 November 11 2009]
• Comments

When I asked if there are plans to convert the heating system from coal to gas, now that the district government has made natural gas available in our homes for cooking, she said it's not on management's agenda.

There is also a staggering structural problem inherent in this mess. The circulated hot water heating is charged by the square foot of living space and is not metered at each household.

The heating system is connected in vertical zones, not apartment by apartment. This means there is no incentive to use less.

You can leave your windows open all day and let the heat fly out, and you'll still be charged the same as someone who installs triple pane windows.

When I talk to neighbors about doing something about the thick air that stings the eyes, I never get past the cost. Who will pay for converting the coal plant to gas? And gas is more expensive to burn, they assume.

There's also a disturbing fatalistic attitude. Beijing officials report the city will burn 5.6 million tons of coal for heating this winter.

Hearing such statistics and surrounded by so much oppressive air, it's hard to imagine that eliminating our contribution to global warming will make any difference. This, of course, is the same as every other polluting community thinks, big or small.

With little incentive to take personal responsibility and with no tradition of commu-nity activism, collective action at the local level is still far into China's smoggy future.

For this country, and for the world, this is an incongruous and fundamental contradiction that must be overcome.

This brings us back to the world's leaders at Copenhagen. They must come up with trickle-down environment-enhancing programs that are available, affordable and effective. They must enable communities like mine to come up with meaningful climate change remedies.

To start, let's make the trade of carbon credits more flexible, generous and easier to access. Right outside my window there are tons of carbon emissions that I'd happily trade in exchange for a gas fired heating plant.

The author is the founder of R.D. Communications. billsiggins@ realdogcomm.cn