China green lights super eco-ministry

China is changing its eco-policy guardians from plain old State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA) to a ministry – an upgrade that can only find peer in Cringer’s transformation into Battlecat every week in the kids cartoon He Man or for that matter, from Eric into the eponymous Bananaman.

According to Xinhua, the ministry will be in charge of reducing pollutants, protecting the environment and build a “resource-saving and environment-friendly society”.

It’ll also be responsible for drafting and implementing programs, policies and standards for environmental protection too. While it’s a great big signal of how China is taking green business seriously, there are still some drawbacks to the plan.

Xinhua quotes Huang Xihua, vice director of the environmental protection bureau of Huizhou, Guangdong Province:

Environmental protection bureaus at provincial level and below are under the direct leadership of local governments, who are in charge of our personnel changes and funding.
“Eat one’s hay, walk his way. It is hard for a local environmental protection bureau to work independently and monitor the government.”