The final air quality program of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has eventually become an example of a smart, effective diplomacy, promoting American soft power while bringing changes in the real world. I have never seen an initiative of the US government that has an immediate and powerful impact in a country, Mr. Gary Gary Locke, a former US ambassador to China, told the Washington Post in 2013. The project was so successful that it was introduced on the website of the website of the website of the website website of the website site. US National Diplomatic Museum.
Before it was suddenly killed, officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, researchers and the public could view international air quality data collected from US embassies on Airnow, a database maintained by EPA, as well as on Zephair, an application designed by the Department of Foreign Affairs to help US diplomats overseas. The Old website has been implemented without any available; The application shows that at least half of the Embassy has stopped reporting the data regularly in the middle of the third before the function is completely disabled on Wednesday, according to the tests performed by Wired.
Westervelt, who described Dosair as a foundation of international air quality work, he said he had previously received funding from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to help expand the program in Africa. He said he became worried about his fate when he knew last week that his funding was ended with. Thousands of others At the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the US International Development Agency.
Diplomatic victory
By the end of 2011, the air monitoring program had a big recognition in China. Pollution became so bad in Beijing that the city had to close the airport. The BOT of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs exploded the frantic reading of Muslims on Twitter again, but the official figures of the Chinese government said the atmosphere was only a bit polluted.
The Chinese public, however, decided to trust the number of the US Embassy. Many people spoke about their disappointment on social media and promoted the government to act to clean the air. It became an environmental awakening like fog in London, he said, the former American diplomat. In a turning point, it is almost unpredictable today, the Chinese government has even officially applied the method of the US Department of State to report air quality. It has also made significant efforts to clean the air pollution, and cooperate with EPA on climate and environmental issues.
The Dosair program is also welcomed in many other countries, especially those without existing infrastructure to collect air quality data, WesterVELT said. In some cases, local governments have used high quality data collected at US embassies to adjust the readings on the air screen lower than their own.
For these countries, the end of supporting the air quality monitoring program can hinder their process of cleaning the air, WesterVELT said. You cannot really minimize air pollution unless you have quantitative evidence, he explains. It was a pretty big shot.
Clear economic winner
In the past month, the Trump administration has cut funding and employees across the Federal Government as part of Cost reduction initiatives Leaded by the so -called effect of the Musk Ministry (DOGE). But the air quality monitoring program is not expensive for the US Department of State. WesterVELT estimates that the cost of only tens of thousands of dollars each year is because most of the monitoring equipment has been purchased and the main expenses related to maintenance.
Chương trình đã chứng minh làm thế nào các công nghệ thông tin chi phí tương đối thấp có thể được sử dụng để thúc đẩy giảm ô nhiễm không khí đáng kể, Akshaya Jha, giáo sư trợ lý về kinh tế và chính sách công tại Đại học Carnegie Mellon, đồng tác giả nghiên cứu năm 2022. Khi một đại sứ quán Hoa Kỳ bắt đầu xuất bản các bài đọc trong một thành phố, ông nói, nó thường nâng cao nhận thức cộng đồng về ô nhiễm và gây áp lực lên nước chủ nhà để hành động để Clean the air. JHA found that local Google searches for the terminology of air quality on the network increased steadily after the screen was installed. The level of air pollution, estimated by satellite measurements, also decreases.
In the long run, JHA's research also found that this program really saved money for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which was required to pay additional compensation for living in more dangerous environments. Our estimates indicate that the screen saving screens for the Embassy on average $ 34,000 a year in these difficult payments, according to Mr. JHA.
Even in addition to the difficult compensation, creating a world where fewer people die from air pollution diseases will reduce the need for things like expensive medical treatment. In terms of the benefit of this program compared to its cost, it was a clear winner, Mr. JHA said.