WHATEVER YOU DO, DO NOT TELL THOMAS FRIEDMAN: "Air Pollution From Cars Is Killing Everyone In Beijing"

New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman has, on numerous occasions, praised the governmental structure and leadership of the People's Republic of China. To do so, he studiously must ignore Red China's "re-education" camps, its slave laborers, its systematic persecution of religious practitioners, and its controlled economy. The latter requires government approval and intervention for virtually every business in the country and has spurred the growth of a corrupt and dangerous form of crony capitalism.

And then there's the PRC's destruction of the environment:

No one would ever go to Beijing for its crisp air and clear skies, but smog problem in China's capital has, evidently, gotten way out of control.

NPR reported Saturday that the smog in the second-most populous Chinese city was thick and causing people's eyes to burn, with residents being urged to stay indoors...

...It's so severe that the level of pollution was, according to NPR, "literally off the charts," because the U.S. Embassy's smog index stops at 500 and the projected index in Beijing was closer to 800. Things in the 300 or higher range are usually pretty bad to begin with.

The contributing factors to heavy smog? Cars, of course, which have exploded in popularity in the last decade in China, and in Beijing in particular. There have been measures to slow the car congestion, but things like limiting the amount of new vehicle registrations have just made people stand in long lines. And talk offering rebates on electric vehicles sounds like a great idea, until you remember that it's coal producing most of the city's electricity.

Perhaps we should require Thomas Friedman to run the Beijing Marathon before publishing future advertisements for Communism.


Hat tip: BadBlue Car News.