The Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP) warned in July that looser local supervision led to a decline in efforts to control pollution in some parts of the country in the first half of this year. “It’s hard to be optimistic about what was done to cut emissions in the first half,” said Zhang Lijun, MEP Vice Minister. “Pollution worsened and supervision loosened in some regions as some local authorities relaxed restrictions on emissions.” The areas most affected were predominantly in the country’s west, while eastern coastal cities are facing more difficulties in attaining their targets as the easiest measures have already been taken. In 2011, the country missed about half of the main targets it had set itself for energy conservation and environmental protection, including its target for energy intensity. But the lingering global recession and domestic efforts to restructure the economy have made the conditions for achieving those goals favorable, Zhang said. China plans to conduct a review of work it undertook to save energy in the first half of 2012, he added. From 2011 to 2015, China has set the goal of reducing its energy intensity by 16% and its carbon intensity by 17%.