Citizens should tell the agency to set the strictest standards.
By Nathan Willcox and Robert Tweel
On Thursday, representatives of the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency are coming to Philadelphia to ask our opinion on a seemingly
simple question: Do we want less ozone "smog" pollution in our air? Our
answer for the agency is equally simple: Listen to the scientists, obey
the law, and set the most protective air-quality standard for ozone
possible.
Ozone is a powerful pollutant that burns our lungs and airways. Ozone
is not emitted directly from pollution sources but rather forms when
pollution from power plants, cars, and industrial sources reacts with
heat and sunlight. Ozone levels in the United States typically rise
from May to October, when warmer, sunnier conditions are most
prevalent.
While air quality in the United States has improved over the last three
decades, one-third of the U.S. population - more than 99 million
Americans - still lives in areas with unsafe levels of ozone, according
to the American Lung Association. The American Lung Association
recently gave Philadelphia, Bucks, Chester, Delaware and Montgomery
Counties "F" grades for their high levels of ozone. Ozone exposure can
harm even the healthiest lungs, but children, teenagers, the elderly,
and people with lung disease are most vulnerable to the health effects
of ozone exposure, which can trigger asthma attacks and even cause
premature death.
Under the Clean Air Act, the EPA must set air-quality standards at
levels that protect public health, including sensitive populations,
with an adequate margin of safety. In 2006, the independent Clean Air
Scientific Advisory Committee reviewed 2,000 pages of data on the
health effects of ozone and unanimously concluded there was no
scientific justification for retaining the current ozone standard, set
in 1997. The scientific advisers recommended significantly increasing
the ozone standard to protect public health.
On June 20, EPA proposed strengthening the national air-quality
standard for ozone, but the agency's proposal is weaker than what its
own scientific advisers said was necessary to protect the health of all
Americans. Alarmingly, the new EPA proposal also leaves the door open
to retaining the current ozone standard. Not coincidentally, in the
weeks leading up to the release of the EPA's proposal, representatives
for the electric utilities, big oil, chemical industry, and the
automakers organized high-level meetings with Bush administration
officials to discuss the new ozone standards.
The science is clear about what EPA needs to do to protect public
health, and the law is clear about the agency's obligation to do so.
That will be our message on Thursday, when the Bush administration
holds a public hearing in Philadelphia - one of five hearings scheduled
nationwide - on its proposed standards for ozone. We encourage citizens
to help us deliver this message by attending the hearing in person.
The EPA should resist industry pressure and instead adopt the most
protective ozone standard recommended by its scientific advisers. Only
then will we be able to breathe easier.
Nathan Willcox is energy and
clean-air advocate for PennEnvironment in Philadelphia. Robert Tweel
Esq. is chairman of the board of the American Lung Association of
Mid-Atlantic.
