All That Is Green Isn't ... well, green
China is trying to promote itself as green in order to win friends and influence commerce as they host this round of the Olympics. They are going to all kinds of measures to make the Olympics and their country look like they care about the athletes and the environment. They are promoting a "Green Games" theme.
But...
All that is green isn't necessarily "green". Take a look at this photo of a bay in Eastern China that I know alot of you have seen by now. You can look at the rest of the slideshow to see the extent of their problem.
But...
All that is green isn't necessarily "green". Take a look at this photo of a bay in Eastern China that I know alot of you have seen by now. You can look at the rest of the slideshow to see the extent of their problem.
Image details: Algae Cleanup Underway At Olympic Sailing City served by picapp.com
Chinese fishermen pitch in to help clean up the coast of Qingdao, east China's Shandong province, about 550 kms (340 miles) southeast of Beijing on July 1, 2008. China scrambled Thursday to clear tonnes of algae that is covering a third of the Olympic sailing course and causing huge embarrassment for authorities trying to promote a "Green Games."
Except that they are not pitching in. Do you really think lowly Chinese fishermen would stop fishing for food and money to clean up slimy blue-green algae in order to just "pitch in"? The government of China has actually mobilized tens of thousands of people. Most of these people are being forced to work. Thus the joys of living in a communist regime. Also, the caption makes it sound like it was being cleaned up on Thursday. Actually, the authorities don't even know if the area will be cleaned up by August. Meanwhile, teams are having to train in the area.
How else is China trying to show itself as green? Take a look at this photo and its caption.
Smoke billows from a chimney at a chemical factory in Tianjin municipality, neighbouring Beijing February 22, 2008. Tianjin has ordered 40 factories to shut for the Olympics, the latest dramatic step taken by China to ensure that pollution does not spoil the Games in August.
So, they are actually going to shut down parts of their country, forcing factories and businesses to close up shop, because they want to be SEEN as being green during the Olympics. Who cares about the low-level worker that will probably not get paid during that month. All that matters is being "green".
But then, isn't that what environmentalism is all about lately? Just the image that you care or are doing something that is perceived to be protecting the environment. But how many times, over and over, are we finding that these stupid idiotic painful and expensive ideas that the greenie (greedy) environmentalists concoct and force us in to, actually do more harm to the environment than help it??
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