China’s Integrated Sustainability

By: Libby Carnahan, Sea Grant Agent

I was fortunate to spend the last 2 weeks traveling in China to Shanghai, Xi’an, Beijing and the surrounding countryside, and if you think you have China figured out, guess again.

The stories that hit the news are just a fraction of the character of the country as diverse as it is populated. China is a country of paradox: smog-filled city streets, swept clean by hand every morning; nuclear power plants set in the
foreground of beautiful green mountainscapes; a network of railways, subways, and pedestrian-friendly sidewalks competing with an ever expanding highways to accommodate her increasing dependence upon the personal automobile.

You do not hear China praised as a poster child for environmentalism, however there are things that China is doing to limit its impact and she is doing them well.

Look for the rest of my adventures and China’s sustainability initiatives in this week’s posts.