Southern Air Still Suffering from Smog

When temperatures rise, it’s ozone season—the time of year when emissions from our tailpipes and smokestacks react with other chemicals in the presence of heat and sunlight to form ground-level ozone, a powerful lung irritant.

Ozone pollution, better known as smog, can trigger asthma attacks, reduce lung capacity, and increase risk of heart disease and even premature death. Children and the elderly are especially vulnerable and are often warned to stay indoors on “bad air days.” While their respiratory systems are still developing, children risk permanent loss of lung capacity if exposed to pollution for long periods. For senior citizens, high ozone levels exacerbate the natural decline in lung function that occurs with age.

More Cities Fail to Meet Health-Based Standards

The current federal health-based standard for ozone pollution, which the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency released in March 2008, falls short of the recommendations of public health professionals and EPA’s own scientists. Nevertheless, the updated benchmark goes farther to protect our lungs and shows that more southern cities than ever are suffering from air that’s unhealthy to breathe. 

Metro areas such as Atlanta, Raleigh, Charlotte, Knoxville and Birmingham are expected to remain in violation of the federal ozone standard, and they are likely to be joined by other cities in our region, such as Winston-Salem, Macon, Richmond, Virginia Beach, Williamsburg, Kingsport, and Chattanooga.  If found to be in “nonattainment,” they will face deadlines to reach the new standard or risk federal sanctions, including tighter smokestack controls and possibly the loss of federal highway funding.

Battling Pollution at Its Source

Our high concentration of coal-burning power plants and overdependence on cars and trucks are keeping us from bringing ozone pollution down to healthy levels in the South. To lead our region toward a clean energy future, SELC is spurring the cleanup of old, dirty power plants that continue to operate without modern pollution controls, and we are taking action to prevent utilities from saddling us with more coal-fired facilities.

SELC is also the leading voice for transportation reform in the South and is pursuing effective strategies to reduce how much and how far we drive. We are working at the federal and state levels to increase investment in rail, public transit, and other alternatives to driving, and we are promoting better coordination of transportation and land use planning to curb sprawling development patterns that make our per capita driving distances some of the longest in the nation.