Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
Whether these policies trickled down to the provincial level or were
adopted in the realm of individual environmental practices by consumers or
average citizens is another story entirely. Sometimes, provincial govern-
ments actively worked to thwart ambitious national environmental goals
like reducing energy consumption.
41
At the same time that there was a new
government focus on green buildings, the World Bank estimated that 95
percent of new building construction in China did not meet energy-e' -
ciency standards.
42
In other words, many new buildings lack insulation and
are energy ine' cient. h is lack of insulation is a huge factor in climate
change, as buildings constitutes a large percentage of carbon emissions (in
the United States, almost 39 percent of carbon emissions comes from
buildings).
43
h e Ministry of Environmental Protection also became responsible for
examining and approving what in English is roughly translated as “trial
eco-provinces, cities, and towns” and
shengtai wenming jianshe shidian ,
a
phrase roughly translated as “ecological civilization trial sites.” h ese trials
began in 2008.
44
Around this time, fourteen provinces started to construct
“eco-provinces,”
45
150 “eco-cities,” and eleven “eco-counties” that are
named national eco-counties.
46
What defi nes an eco-county or an eco-city?
On paper, what defi nes an eco-county, eco-city, or ecological civilization
site is often defi ned by highly bureaucratic language.
47
h ere is often a large gap between what is on paper and what happens in
practice. h us, these “ecological” terms are often quite meaningless on the
ground. h at is why in the hyperpolluted Lake Tai region, the whistle-
blower Mr. Wu, who reported on the chemical companies polluting the
lake, was outraged when his city was named a “Model City for Environ-
mental Protection.”
48
h e picture on “eco-cities” is even more vague. h e
general understanding is just that these cities should exhibit “environmen-
tal protection,” result in “energy savings,” and bring about the “
harmonious
co-existence
of humans and nature.”
49
With few quantitative standards and
