The U.S. Environmental
Protection
Agency
- the federal guardian of clean air - has issued new standards to control smog
that scientists and environmental organizations are criticizing for not going
far enough. EPA's action offers a stark reminder that, in the absence of
meaningful regulations, consumer action is critical if we're going to reduce air
pollution
now and in the future.
According to the
New York Times, 345 counties currently violate the new standards EPA has set
to reduce smog and clean up the air. Bringing those counties into compliance
would prevent 900 to 1,100 premature deaths a year and result in 5,600 fewer
hospital or emergency room visits. Even with these benefits, groups like the Association of Clean Air Agencies worry
that the standards are still too low.
The timetable for meeting the smog standards could be decades, reports the
Times, depending on the severity of the problem in each city. Industries like
the electric utility industry are expected to resist reducing the pollution
from power plants to meet EPA's clean air directives. In tones that harken back
to the debate around global warming, the Edison Electric Institute, a utility
trade association, is challenging the scientifically-accepted cause-and-effect
relationship between smog and human health -- even though millions of people
already suffer increased asthma, heart attacks, and other ailments from polluted
air.
While consumers should contact their member of Congress to
support stricter standards, they shouldn't wait for more government action to
take steps to protect their air. Smog results directly from burning fossil
fuels. Consumers can help improve the air in their cities and towns by reducing
the amount of energy they use. If every household installed just one compact
fluorescent light bulb, for example, it would have the equivalent benefit of
taking 800,000 cars off the road.
Consumers can also use programmable thermostatsand energy efficient
appliances, take mass transit or carpool, and buy electricity generated by windpower
or biomass.