Beijing's air is very bad, and today's haze is oppressive. I'd heard that environmental awareness in China is low and that people are unaware of the issue. That isn't completely accurate. I've found that while very few people know what climate change is, everyone knows the air is bad and getting worse. It's a common subject of conversation.
Some people even know that coal burning and car driving are causing the problem.
But, to most people, it's just another development in a country that is spooling out change faster and faster. After breakfast, I hop on a public bus already jammed with people and find myself face to face with a large smelly burlap sack of onions. Beijing is huge and, in practical terms, made larger by the awful gridlock. It takes 40 minutes for the bus to crawl past my office, which is all of four miles from my home. I edit the proposals, then meet with Ms. Song to discuss the budget numbers I've used in the proposals.