What the Olympics mean to China

My comments about “what the Olympics mean to China” were published in last week’s San Francisco Chronicle. Since today mark’s the first day of the Games, I thought I’d share my thoughts again:
“This year’s events may indeed be rife with mishaps, but we shouldn’t forget about the “Olympic spirit,” which should be about harmony and [...]

“Develop first, clean up later”: Olympic smog a real kick in the face mask

I don’t live in Beijing. I don’t even live in China. So I’m not able to observe first hand the Olympian efforts made by the Chinese government lately to clamp down on air pollution. But from everything I’ve read so far, these efforts are futile.
And I know this isn’t a new story, either. China has [...]

Green Olympic Sponsors: Coca-Cola…going blue?

There isn’t a blog out there who hasn’t reminded us that green is the color of money and trees, can be turned to ‘gold,’ or found in ‘red’ China.
Green isn’t enough anymore, though, because now we have a new color scheme to overuse—blue, like the color of water. Coco-Cola, and other companies, like General Electric, [...]

Responsible Bloggers: polluters’ ultimatum, China losing control, rainforests for rubber, new labor laws, media coverage

A round-up of responsible blogging about China, the environment, and CSR:

“East China Province Gives Ultimatum to Polluters Before Olympics”
All Roads Lead to China
April 7, 2008
“Xinhua has just released an article that I think everyone should pay attention to: [...]

ResponsibleChina Podcast: Dermot O’Gorman, WWF China and “Go For Gold”

In this edition of the ResponsibleChina Show, I talk to Dermot O’Gorman of WWF China’s Go For Gold campaign, an initiative that that encourages Olympic athletes, National Olympic Committees, and individual tourists to offset the carbon emissions from their air travel to Beijing for this summer’s Olympic Games.

Listen to the podcast: 04-responsiblechina_-dermot-ogorman-wwf-china-and-_go-for-gold_.mp3
(Music credit: “Fresh,” by [...]