By 2013, public anger boiled over. Citizens demanded proper air-quality monitoring and data. Even Chinese state media were reporting on the terrible pollution that cloaked not just Beijing, but cities across the country.5 The Chinese government responded and in 2014 declared a ‘war on pollution’. It moved quickly, bringing in tough regulations on industrial plants; it took old cars off the road, shut down coal stations near the city, and switched from coal to gas boilers, which produce much less pollution.i
