By not reducing pollutants, firms harm themselves

MORE THAN 54 PERCENT of some 41,928 enterprises across the country were found to have violated the environmental protection laws during the past five months, according to an ongoing inspection on air pollution by the Ministry of Environmental Protection. Beijing News commented on Tuesday:

That environmentally unfriendly production activities continue even after several rounds of nationwide inspection warrants tougher supervision and enforcement on heavy polluters. The inspection teams dispatched by the ministry will reportedly conduct research independent of local environmental authorities to rule out hidden favoritism.

The bitter truth is that government supervision, however targeted and efficient, is not likely to cover all polluting enterprises and factories. So the task of reducing industrial air pollution and promoting green industry falls mainly on local manufacturers themselves. And their reluctance to do so will push that goal further off the table.