Clean Air in Atlanta

For the past three decades, Metro Atlanta has experienced tremendous growth and prosperity, becoming one of the major urban centers in the U.S. But rapid growth has come at a high cost.

Hold Your Breath

Today, air pollution is taking a serious toll on the health of the region’s residents. Atlantans routinely have to adjust or cancel outdoor activities to avoid ‘bad air’ days during the summer when health officials post smog alerts. Scientific studies have confirmed the link between air pollution and serious health impacts, including heart disease, heart attacks, increased risk of death from lung cancer, and early deaths from heart and lung problems.

How We Grow

Much of Atlanta’s bad air comes from tailpipe emissions, which mix with heat and sunlight to form ground-level ozone that is harmful to plant and animal tissue. With the region’s growth comes an increasing number of cars and trucks in the ever-sprawling metropolitan area of Atlanta, fostered by unwise land-use policies. For over 25 years, metro Atlanta has failed to meet federal health standards for ozone pollution, placing it near the top of the country’s most polluted cities.

Clearing the Smoke

SELC is working to combat Atlanta’s poor air quality through smarter transportation choices and development patterns.  Recently, the Atlanta Regional Commission proposed to expand a 10-mile stretch of I-75 as it feeds into the Atlanta beltway to 23 lanes – wider than the length of a football field.

The increased traffic created by this Northwest Corridor expansion would exacerbate Atlanta’s serious air quality problems and lead to major expansions on the remainder of the interstate system surrounding Atlanta. As an alternative to this ill-conceived proposal, SELC and a number of community leaders are advocating light rail through this section of the I-75 corridor.