CLIMATE CONTROL

If only for a year, the Chinese government is getting serious about combating air pollution. Without upcoming Olympic games here, U.S. politicians will have to find other ways to force government action on green house gas emissions.

The International Olympic Committee warned Wednesday that some events, especially endurance sports like bike racing, at the 2008 Olympics may have to be rescheduled because of poor air quality in Beijing. The comments are likely to embarrass Chinese Olympic organizers who are so intent on perfect, if highly controlled, games that they are experimenting with ways to ensure it does not rain on opening day, Aug. 8, 2008.

The Chinese government has already taken steps to reduce pollution. It has ordered a million cars off the road in Beijing this month as a trial run for next August. It has forced highly polluting factories out of the city and coal-burning furnaces have been shut down. The government also has dispatched a sort of energy police to patrol commercial buildings and hotels to ensure that air conditioners aren’t set too low. If temperatures are too low, thereby using more electricity, buildings will be ordered to raise them.

“Good air and blue skies are important not only for the opening ceremony of the games but also for the athletes and local residents,” said Wang Wei, executive vice president for the Beijing Organizing Committee. “What matters more to us is not the image but the health of the athletes and the people, including visitors, during the games time.”

He did not say if concerns for good air and blue skies or the energy police would remain after the games.

The same day that the Chinese kicked off the one-year countdown to the Beijing Olympics, U.S. Rep. John Dingell, chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, unveiled his plan to cut global warming emissions. In what he termed the “most difficult battle of his career,” the 27-term lawmaker from Michigan aims to persuade his colleagues and the public that unpopular and painful fixes are necessary to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. He’s got a lot of convincing to do.

His calls for a 50-cent-per-gallon tax on gasoline, repeal of the mortgage interest deduction for homes over 3,000 square feet and an economy-wide carbon tax have already been declared politically dead, even by some environmental groups that support them. Many of them are upset that Rep. Dingell, who is from Dearborn, home of Ford Motor Co., has long opposed stricter vehicle fuel economy standards, which would do more to curb global warming pollution than increasing taxes on big houses.

These events show that talk of tough steps to combat the largest problem facing the planet is easy. Doing something about it is another matter.