Cleaner, but at what price?

The Olympic torch has begun its around-the-world relay to Beijing for the start of the 2008 Summer Games. Likewise, the Chinese government is racing to improve the environment in Beijing. The organizing committee is even promoting this as a "green Olympics."

But if China's record on human rights -- including the recent problems in Tibet -- are any indication, the Communist country's environmental claims merit a closer look.

The biggest issue is air quality. China's capital is notorious for brown, smoggy skies caused by coal-fired power plants, coal-burning stoves, and tons of exahust-belching traffic. This is aggravated in spring and early summer by sandstorms that shroud the city for days.

According to the latest U.N. report, Beijing's air is improving, but slowly. Most pollutants in the atmosphere have finally dropped below the World Health Organization Air Quality Guidelines, but small particulate matter is still very high, as much as 200% over the safe levels.

Time magazine notes that reporters have found Beijing's Environmental Protection Bureau less than forthcoming about statistics. Is the government misreporting the current air quality?

Blogger Tim Johnson offers photographic evidence of not-so 'blue sky days' in Beijing this month. Judge for yourself if you'd want to run a marathon in that.

Water is another crucial issue in northern China -- Beijing already has to import water from the south and will need a lot more to support the estimated 2.5 million Olympic visitors. This is not without problems.

Neighboring Hebei province is being sucked dry by Beijing and is suffering from saline contamination. Groundwater in the coastal Qinhuangdao area has become unpotable.

Chinese news sources claim that water conservation efforts are being made. And "water from Hebei will be used as emergency supplies" during the Olympics.

But not everyone is satisfied. Another area nearby is also being drained for the Olympics, and one official is complaining. A leader in the Shaanxi province, An Qiyuan, wants compensation. He said: "In order to preserve the quality of Beijing's water we have to close all our factories." So the environmental impact is compounded by the economic impact.

The Beijing Games has personally affected the lives of people in the city. Somewhere between 14,000 to 1.25 million people have been displaced from their homes to build Olympic buildings, shopping malls, parks, etc. Beijing's Municipal Construction Committee reports the smaller number, and the Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions estimates the larger one. Either way, it's a serious disruption, and not everyone has been moved by choice.

Animals have been relocated as well as people. In one of the more gruesome stories to come out of China, the U.K.'s Daily Mail reports on thousands of cats being rounded up for extermination. Beijing wants people to believe that cats carry disease, and pet owners are forced into abandoning the animals. The goal seems to be cleaning the streets in advance of the Summer Games.

So what good may be coming out China's Olympic ambitions?

To clear pollution by getting cars of the road, Beijing has expanded its public transportation. First to open was Line 5 (check out the great photos on TreeHugger), which connects multiple lines in the once-underused system. Beijing also got a new airport with additional subway lines that connect to it.

Even better, the government lowered fares on the subway to encourage ridership.

Other infrastructure upgrades in the city should be beneficial to residents long after the Games are gone. The World Watch Institute reports that Beijing now treats 90% of its wastewater (up from 42% in 2001), and solid waste treatment is at 97%.

Little things have changed for the better too. For example, as we noted earlier this year, China has banned plastic bags to cut back on litter.

Will these improvements balance out the harsh steps taken to get there? Will the Olympics open China up to a greener future after the last medal is awarded?

Hard to say. We'll just have to wait and watch this summer and beyond.