Fueling the eco drive

Daniel Dudek’s bond with China has become stronger after he and his wife adopted two Chinese girls.[Photo provided to China Daily]

During his visits to China in the past few years, Dudek has been to practically every province, trying out all kinds of transportation.

He describes his life in China as "going from one hotel to another and waking up in a different bed every morning".

He says he has witnessed positive changes in China's environmental protection programs, in terms of the government's involvement, laws and policies, within a relatively short span of time.

The status of relevant government agencies are upgraded continuously.

For example, the National Environmental Protection Agency of the 1990s was changed to the State Environmental Protection Administration, and then to a full-fledged Ministry of Environmental Protection.

"The upgrading signifies the importance of the environmental agenda," he says. "The changes took place step by step, and they are continuing."

Dudek, who pays close attention to environmental news about China, says he has observed a growing awareness of the environment among average Chinese.

"People are much more concerned about environmental problems (these days), they are more vocal, which raises government's expectations to solve these problems," says Dudek, adding that part of the changes come along with technology, including the air-quality monitoring apps on smartphones.

But Dudek points out that it is a big challenge to achieve satisfying results for environmental protection in such a huge and diverse country, where great differences between regions exist.

"It's still a challenge to have people understand that we really need broad cooperation to solve the problem because of the difference between physical boundaries (among provinces and regions)," he says, adding that he once in a while finds it difficult to promote his ideas among regional officials.

In the US, he says people faced similar challenges, but in the end they succeeded, thanks to such programs.