The American Lung Association issued its annual report on air quality, with Triad counties receiving, at best, average grades. Does anybody besides me find it odd that letter grades were issued for short-term PM pollution while long-term PM pollution received only “pass-fail” grades? Perhaps the ALA didn’t like what it saw when looking at annual levels.
Why not? It wouldn’t fit into the ALA’s agenda of fear, as expressed chairman Terri Weaver:
“The increased particle pollution in the East is a particularly troubling trend, because exposure to particle pollution can not only take years off your life, it can threaten your life immediately. Even in many areas EPA currently considers safe, the science clearly shows that the air is too often dangerous to breathe, particularly for those with lung disease. Protecting Americans from potentially deadly air pollution means we need more protective federal standards, so that every community in the United States can have truly clean air.”
Meanwhile, the push to get everyone on the bus continues, because
Winston-Salem and the Triad have had serious air-pollution issues for years, especially in regard to ozone and fine-particle pollution such as smoke, soot, airborne dirt and dust.
Both types of pollution are caused by burning fossil fuels for electrical-power production, heating and driving.
Smog can damage lung tissue and aggravate such respiratory conditions as asthma, emphysema and bronchitis.
Good luck, says JLF’s John Hood.
