China can learn from U.S. efforts to reduce pollution as it confronts recent high-profile incidents of poor air quality paralyzing major cities, the top U.S. environmental official said Monday ahead of a visit to Beijing, Shanghai, and other Chinese locations next week. "While I am ... well aware of the severe air-quality challenges that China now faces, I see these challenges as ones where the United States can truly speak from experience in support of China's efforts to reduce air pollution," Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Gina McCarthy said. China is the world's biggest polluter as measured in carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. In late October, smog forced the northern city of Harbin to close schools and the airport and crippled traffic as an index measuring particulate matter in the atmosphere soared above a reading of 1,000. The World Health Organization (WHO) says levels over 300 are considered hazardous and recommends daily levels of 20 or less. The United States seeks to limit readings of the particulate matter, known as PM2.5, to 35. China's goals "are now to get down to the similar levels which the United States and WHO indicate need to be phased down [to], but the challenge is enormous," McCarthy said at an event hosted by the Center for American Progress think tank in Washington.
