The past few months have been busy for the budding environmental organization Green Stone. First, they stopped a plan to cut down 1,000 trees for a new subway line in the city of Nanjing, in Jiangsu Province. Next, they exposed a case of persistent, carcinogenic water pollution in one of Apple’s printed circuit board supply chains in the city of Kunshan (see Apple Report). The day before I arrived for a three day visit last month, one of Nanjing’s largest corporations called the Green Stone office, asking what they could do to improve their pollution record. Meanwhile, the Provincial Environmental Protection Bureau has asked Green Stone to be patient as they work to address the hundreds of pollution information disclosures requested by the group. “I think they are kind of afraid of us,” Green Stone’s Director Li Chunhua laughed.

The key to Green Stone’s recent success is not necessarily experience (their staff of three are all in their mid-twenties) but courage, charisma and recruiting. On a windy Sunday morning, we met staff and a group of 25 water monitoring volunteers by the edge of the Qinhuai River, the main river that bisects Nanjing City.  Most of the volunteers were under thirty years of age, including a few new freshmen from nearby universities. Everyone’s spirits were high as we embarked on one of Green Stone’s bi-monthly “river walks,” to collect water quality samples using donated equipment, and to survey visitors to the river. Most were male retirees, folks who have been coming to the river in their leisure hour for decades. “The river stinks when it’s not flowing,” one of our survey participants observed. “It needs to flow. When it doesn’t move the pollution gets worse.”

The Qinhuai River flows into the much larger Yangtze, the source of Nanjing’s water supply. The Qinhuai used to be much more polluted, at least on the surface. In the past decade, Nanjing has spent hundreds of millions of US dollars to clean up the river. Upstream farms were shut down due to their use of agricultural chemicals, and wastewater infrastructure has been improved. During our river walk we observed garbage patrol boats with long-handled scoops picking up every visible scrap of trash.

But with water pollution, there is often more than what meets the eye. As we conducted our basic water quality tests, a volunteer from Nanjing University held a tiny bottle filled with pink water up to a laminated chart, to “read” the levels of dissolved oxygen in the sample. “It looks like a four,” he said, indicating a significantly depressed level of dissolved oxygen. Since there is little farming left on the Qinhuai, the problem is likely being caused by untreated urban sewage and runoff.

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In June, Pacific Environment was lucky to host visiting scholar Chen Yongsong, from the Chinese non-profit organization Yunnan Econetwork. Born in the tropical rainforests at the southern tip of China, Yongsong is a seasoned environmental advocate who has worked as a consultant to the Chinese government on a range of environmental issues. For example, he helped develop and ground truth the first government-led sustainable development plan for Yunnan Province, working with communities on a huge range of pilot projects in forestry, agriculture, and environmental management.

Our San Francisco staff and other colleagues gathered to hear Yongsong’s insights into Chinese environmental politics. From a foreign perspective, the space for environmental advocacy in China can be seen as quite narrow, and it was refreshing to learn from Yongsong that the space for doing effective grassroots environmental work in China is much larger than we may think.

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One Oscar apparently isn’t enough for filmmakers Ruby Yang and Thomas Lennon.   Once again, the dedicated environmental documentarians have been nominated in the category of Best Documentary Short, this time for The Warriors of Qiugang.  The poignant film chronicles a small group of Chinese villagers’ 5-year battle to bring an end to lethal water pollution caused by three factories that had come to dominate their tiny hamlet.

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Program Director at Wuhu Ecology Center

In China, the paper industry is considered highly polluting and energy intensive. Its COD emissions are ranked first among all industries. Anhui, in Eastern China, has a high concentration of paper companies, and the Wuhu Ecology Center focuses on the pollution problems associated with them. In the process of collecting information regarding papermaking companies in Anhui, Shandong Chenming Paper Group’s repeated violations of environmental regulations came to our attention. Within the paper industry, Chenming Paper Group is one of the biggest publicly traded companies. It has integrated pulp and paper-making production and is quickly becoming one of top 500 companies in China and one of the top 50 in the world. Chenming’s product is sold globally, including to the United States. (more…)

A documentary short film about an environmental campaign that our partner Green Anhui worked on has been selected by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) as a finalist to compete for an Oscar in 2011.  The film, “The Warriors of Qiugang” is about a local village in China who stood up against three factories that have been polluting their local farmland and waterways.  This is a big deal as the film nicely illustrates the type of environmental and social justice battles that are often fought in China.  Since 2006, our partner Green Anhui has worked with Qiugang Village and their leader Zhang Gongli (aka the “warriors” profiled in the film) to fight against the three local factories. Their fight eventually led to the shutdown and relocation of these factories.

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Dear Chairman and distinguished delegates from around the world:

As a Chinese American, I’ve seen a lot of bickering between the two countries [U.S, China] in the last week, each claiming that they cannot act unless the other does. Here’s an analogy: a boat is sinking and it has one hour to get to shore. All citizens of all countries are on this one boat. If one country says that they will only raft only if the other countries would commit to rafting, then we will never get to shore.

In this situation, I want to urge all of you to put aside your national interests and negotiate as citizens of the planet. If one country claims that it cannot act unless others do, then it is not serious about addressing climate change. Instead, I urge that every country offer their fair share of responsibility for the planet and ask others to follow their lead.

I believe any action that does not meet the basic requirements of the Kyoto Protocol is a failure for all of us. What we need to aim for is something that is even more STRONG, BINDING, AND AMBITIOUS than even the Kyoto Protocol. A “Balanced Package” means developed countries must accept higher emission reduction targets, offer more financial aid and technology for developing countries, so that they can too mitigate their own emissions and adapt to climate change.

Thank you.

Grandpa Hu (not his real name) said “my loyalty always lies with Chairman Mao.” His red pin emblazoned with the golden head of Mao proudly hung on his left chest. It sparkled in the sun, its statement pronounced by the backdrop of his dark blue vest. Grandpa Hu wore a pair of wide-rimmed Polaroid sunglasses, which were unusually fancy for a retired peasant. He seemed healthy and strong. His description of how his family was unaffected by the flood sounded proud and almost cheery. Grandpa Hu said he used to work for the Forestry Department, until they decided they needed someone who was literate to do the job. He was told to retire early. His accent was very thick and I had to wait for my host to transcribe his words to match my speculation of what he may have said. (more…)

Posted by Min Zheng

I am in love with my new job.  On my very first day, as I dived into my role as the new China Program Associate, I worked with our guest from a partner organization in China, Green Camel Bell.  Not only did I learn about the work of Green Camel Bell in China, I also got to learn about the progress on environmental projects in San Francisco.  In addition, on only my third day of work, I was already walking barefoot around the office.  Initially, I was hesitant to move my life from NYC to SF for this job.  Now, I worry about losing the job.  It seems too good to be true.  I get to read news articles that interest me, work on solving environmental problems in China big or small, and travel to China on the 19^th of this month for 28 days.

Today marked my third week working at Pacific Environment as the China Program Associate.  I have been reading up on news, learning about the sub-grant wire process and translating partners’ mid-project reports.  At first, I definitely felt overwhelmed in adjusting to the workload, but I’ve had great help from my supervisor and co-workers in adjusting to the work as well as to San Francisco.  Now, my goal is to understand the work of the grassroots environmental non-profits in China and help them enhance China’s environment.  It would be great if our partners can get the industries to pay for their pollution discharge.  It is hard enough for China to fix its water pollution problems with Chinese industries, now China has to deal with pollution problems caused by international enterprises.

The place where fishermen returned the collected crude oil has a nice name, Golden Bay Bridge. To 35 year old fisherman Cui Zhanyou, it has become a bridge of no return.

On the evening of July 27^th, when Cui was transporting barrels of oil to the collection center, his boat was overturned by rough waves. After days of searching, Cui’s family still could not find a trace of him. (more…)

While Greenpeace activists await the results of their medical check-ups after being exposed to Dalian’s crude oil and as several fire fighters recover from their injuries, those responsible for the Dalian ecological nightmare act as if the oil stains had been removed from their own feathers.

Oil along Dalian Beach (photo by Wen Bo)

Chinese media outlet CBN A-Views reported that on August 3^rd, the Dalian government welcomed PetroChina’s Chairman Jiang Jiemin and his delegation at the Dalian Shangri-La Hotel  and expressed gratitude towards the oil giant’s contribution to Dalian’s economy.

Chinese netizens poured their outcries over cyberspace denouncing PetroChina for its lack of courage to admit its responsibility. Many demanded a formal and public apology from the company and requested compensation for the victims and the marine environment of Dalian.

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