The men's triathlon at the Paris Olympics that was due to take place this afternoon, Australian time, has been postponed because pollution levels in the River Seine remain too high.
The fact that it took the Olympics for the government to care about how dirty the Seine is is insulting and shows how little they care about the environment and their own citizens.
Anne Hidalgo has been mayor of Paris since 2014. She has made huge efforts towards making Paris greener, from bike lanes all over the city to new green lungs. It has been the centre of her political agenda for a decade.
Cleaning up a river like the Seine enough to make it possible to swim in it is not something one can do as a minor preparation for the Olympics. It takes years and years of profound changes throughout the city.
I find it more insulting when people don’t care enough about the environment or people to check the facts before making their hot takes.
That’s the mayor, I’m talking about the government. It became so important for Macron all of the sudden because of the Olympics when he couldn’t have cared less otherwise. That’s a project that should have been taken care of decades ago.
The fact that it took the Olympics for the government to care about how dirty the Seine is is insulting and shows how little they care about the environment and their own citizens.
Anne Hidalgo has been mayor of Paris since 2014. She has made huge efforts towards making Paris greener, from bike lanes all over the city to new green lungs. It has been the centre of her political agenda for a decade.
Cleaning up a river like the Seine enough to make it possible to swim in it is not something one can do as a minor preparation for the Olympics. It takes years and years of profound changes throughout the city.
I find it more insulting when people don’t care enough about the environment or people to check the facts before making their hot takes.
That’s the mayor, I’m talking about the government. It became so important for Macron all of the sudden because of the Olympics when he couldn’t have cared less otherwise. That’s a project that should have been taken care of decades ago.
I think giving Macron credit for the cleaning of the Seine is misplaced, as much as he would probably appreciate it.
50% of the budget (700m €) came from the government and the cleanup was managed by l’Agence de l’eau Seine-Normandie, not the city of Paris.