Roy Cordato recently joined WBT-AM talk show host Jason Lewis to debunk myths about Charlotte’s supposedly poor air quality. Cordato has written that the state is on track for a third year with few high-ozone days, leaving reasonable people to conclude activist groups want to make the situation appear worse than it is. JLF adjunct analyst and environmental scientist Joel Schwartz outlined the case in Monday’s Charlotte Observer. “Air pollution affects far fewer people, far less often and with far less severity than suggested by the air pollution alert system or the unwarranted alarmism typical of media and activist reports.” Schwartz concluded with this: “In terms of air pollution’s effects on health, it is time to declare victory.” The column irked local activists, as evidenced by a reactionary piece from Nancy C. Bryant of the Carolinas Clean Air Coalition, who wrote that her group has been “inundated with demands for a rebuttal” to Schwartz. Friday’s Observer also included three letters to the editor.
