Tough measures needed to deal with the smog

It seemed that what I have feared in the past has become true eventually. In the last 15 years I have taken American students to many Chinese cities. The air pollution in Beijing and other big cities we visited have been simply shocking. Every time when my students commented about the air quality in China, and how they missed the blue skies in the US my heart hurts.

In 2006, one of the readers who read my article on line commented with anger that someone actually warned about the potential problems of the uncontrolled spread of private cars, and nothing happened. He also said he wondered how Mr. Han would feel seeing what is happening with China’s air pollution and traffic jams.

In fact, I did not expect that Chinese government or the Chinese people would have accepted my advice in 1994 when I first raised that question, or in 1997 when I published the article in China and the world. I understood the potential harms of cars to human health because I saw and lived through it in the US For the majority of Chinese people who did not have cars, and who were admiring the wonders and comfort cars bringing to life, the temptation of cars was irresistible at the time.

I had a young Chinese friend when I was studying in Boston. He bought a car before he learned how to drive. He started to drive the first night he got the car before he had a driver license. The police caught him drive his car around 2:00 in the morning in the neighborhood. The police decided to let him go because he told the police that he came from China, and that it had been his dream to own and drive a car. Now he had a car, and he simply could not sleep anymore. He was too eager to drive his car.

Now the Chinese Government and Chinese people see with their own eyes what harms the uncontrolled ownership of car can do to their cities and their health. I hope that the Chinese people and Chinese Government would be able to take some drastic measures to deal with this air pollution problems which threaten their own health now.

One of the reasons I wrote the suggestion to the Chinese government in 1994, because I had sense of urgency. At the time, private cars were still rare. It was possible to ban private cars. After so many people have private cars, it is no longer realistic to ban them. If some people can have cars, then everybody will have the right to have them. Otherwise it is not fair. Since we cannot ban the cars any more, the only way left is to restrict the use of cars through economic means. The government can turn all the government owned cars into taxies, and encourage government officials to take public transportation or taxies to work. In face of this national crisis, government officials should lead the people by example.

Second, the government should reduce the fares of public transportation. Provide better quality and more convenient public transportation to encourage residents to take public transportation instead of private cars. To encourage state owned enterprises to provide cheap public housing close to the work places so that people do not need to travel far to go to work.

More importantly, the government should start national debate about the smog and other environmental problems in China. Let people air their concerns and listen to their constructive suggestions for ways to deal with the environmental crises China is facing today. If the people empowered and mobilized, better ways of dealing with the problems will be found.

The author is a professor of history and political science at the Warren Wilson College in the US.

The opinions expressed here do not represent the views of the China Daily website