EPA Announces Stricter Smog Standards
The Haze in LA.
Growing up in Southern California, I was accustomed to seeing downtown LA covered in a layer of smog (picture, left).
So I was pleased to hear that the EPA has announced stricter national smog standards after years of lax regulation during the Bush administration.
The NYTimes.com website covers the news in this article.
Basically, there are two parts to the new standards:
Primary, health-based protection for people of 60-70 parts per billion in an 8-hour period (the Bush administration tightened the standard from 84 to 75 ppb per 8-hour period).
Secondary protection for wildlife and habitats of 7-15 parts per million-hours (equal to 12-hour periods daily, over 3 months).
Smog is a separate category of air pollutant that affects human health. Sunlight causes chemical reactions between oxides of nitrogen (NOx) and volatile organic compounds (VOC’s) to produce ozone, which is the primary component of smog and leads to respiratory problems in humans.
Despite health effects, ozone plays a critical role in sustaining the Earth’s temperature as a part of the atmosphere (approx. 10-30 miles above the Earth’s surface). It reflects UV rays that are harmful to humans and wildlife.
I remember hearing about ozone depletion caused by CFC’s, which were chemicals used in refrigeration. However, public awareness on the issue and the passing of the Montreal Protocol eventually reduced CFC use.
Ozone, ozone depletion and green house gas emissions (which contribute to global warming) have different effects but all involve air pollution caused by human activity. In my opinion, the easiest (and least costly) solution may be to conserve resources rather than spending to look for technology to help us sustain a heavy energy-consuming lifestyle.
The possible solutions to these problems are complex and controversial. They’re the topic of debate because of their immediate impacts on our lifestyle such as higher cost passed to the consumer from increased regulation, which may be the way many states opt to meet these new smog standards.
In conclusion, stricter smog standards are one step in the right direction to lowering air pollution; however, they may not address a deeper problem we have involving the environment: changing human behavior and lifestyle.
