In recent weeks, as the world's attention has turned to the Summer Olympics in China, the media has published a steady stream of stories about the unpleasant environment that the Olympic athletes will face in China: algae blooms in the waters off of Qingdao that threaten the sailing competitions and smog and particulate matter-laden skies over Beijing, forcing some teams to train away from Beijing in advance of their competitions and forcing coaches to provide their athletes with optional breathing masks to provide some measure of protection.

Haile Gebrselaisse, the Ethiopian runner who holds the world record for the marathon, has decided not to compete in the marathon and the International Olympic Committee has raised the possibility of postponing the marathon and other endurance events.

In spite of this bad press and potential postponement of some events, the Chinese are taking extraordinary steps to mitigate the impact of their soiled environment on the Summer Olympics' competitions. Some of the varied measures the country is taking include sending a small flotilla of boats and some 10,000 people to scoop up the green muck polluting the waters off of Qingdao, enforcing alternate day driving, closing some of Beijing's factories and even using artillery to try to seed the clouds to produce rainfall to clear the air that Olympic athletes will be breathing in Beijing.

Unfortunately, the air pollution in Beijing has resisted the Chinese government's effort to control it. Even by the less stringent standards that China uses (China doesn't publish ozone and fine particulate matter readings) air quality has been considered unhealthy despite these initial attempts to mitigate smog and other pollutants. The failure of the Chinese government to wrest control of the atmosphere around Beijing is likely to lead to even more stringent measures just before and during the Olympics.

These more draconian measures are likely to include the temporary closure of nearly all construction sites and even more factories in and around Beijing and banning up to 90% of Beijing's private vehicles from the roads during the Olympics. These restrictions also are being imposed on neighboring Tianjin and parts of Heibei Province.

A Green Olympics

Officials from Beijing have said that the Summer Olympics will be a "Green Olympics." Though the existing environment and industrial, automotive and built infrastructure in greater Beijing will be anything but "green," the aspirations of the Chinese to create a "green" future will be on display during the Olympics.

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