After suffering through what ended up being a pretty polluted winter, China is now putting harsher controls on cities in northern China in order to help clean up Beijing’s air, Xinhua reports.
The capital and its surrounding regions will be required to adhere to stricter measures in order to reduce winter smog, including shutting down illegal plants and cutting steel production, an environmental official announced Wednesday.
In order to see less pollution in winter, Beijing, Tianjin and 26 other cities in Hebei, Shanxi, Shandong and Henan are now required to meet their annual steel-cutting goals sooner than previously expected.
These cities must also close each and every illegal, high-polluting factory by October, as well as cut their coal use. In addition, cities in Hebei that produce the most steel are now required to cut their output in half.
In the meantime cement and casting production in the areas of Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei will be completely shut down during the winter.
These stricter measures should help reduce winter air pollution. It is estimated that the coal burned for winter heating causes a 30 percent increase in pollution during winter months.
[Image via South China Morning Post]
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