EPA air standards & Williamson county
Driving into work this morning on my insanely long commute really pinched this morning because of a story i heard on NPR - Apparently Williamson county is one of 345 counties in the US that is now above the new smog limit that's just been set by the EPA.
Besides the obvious (dirty air = yuck!), what bothers me about it all is this:
"The EPA's new smog limit is 75 parts per billion of ozone... The EPA's independent science advisory panel unanimously had said the standard should be no higher than 70 parts per billion...
Industry groups, which had said before the announcement that the limit shouldn't be lowered at all, said they were disappointed with the decision.
The new standard "could have a devastating effect on manufacturing employment," said John Engler, chief of the National Association of Manufacturers. "
ARGH!!!!!!! If you are doing something that is hurting/killing people, then you either need to stop or find another, non-lethal way! Good god! They're "disappointed"?!?!?!?!?!
Well, I'm disappointed that little kids in big cities have asthma at an alarmingly disproportionate rate! I'm disappointed that when i use a sponge to clean off my window sills or outdoor furniture, there's black nastiness that reminds me of what's in my LUNGS (read some more about air quality and health here). I know that Nashville isn't the Bronx, but if I remember correctly from my Geology class back in the day, Nashville is ituated in a 'geographic bowl', where, due to the topography, pollutants get trapped and sort of settle over the city. So there are air quality concerns here that are on my mind. But Industry is disappointed, so let's not get ahead of ourselves...
Labels: business, environment, ethics, tragedy of the commons
posted by Big D @ 10:04 AM
5 Comments
5 Comments:
I've been reading your blog for a while and now that I'm actually posting on my blog I thought I'd post a comment. It's so good to hear that there is someone else in Nashville working towards the same goal as me! I read all of the way back to your first blog and thought I'd share that in Davidson County you can recycle the envelops with windows, and all plastics 1-7. Just thought I'd share incase you hadn't found that info! (Not sure about Rutherford though). Your condo is so cute, good luck selling it!
The EPA's announcement on ozone rules is thought to be one of the Bush administration's worst environmental offenses...and you know, that's really saying something.
livin life -
do you take the plastic window out and recycle it separately? that was my first thought as to how to tackle it, but BOY is it a pain!
And at my new job, I open all the bills and things, so I'm arranging my desk so that I have separate boxes for paper and plastic. This office is awesome - they have recycling picked up here, so i can easily do it - not so at my other job!
Thanks for the well-wishing on the condo - I really can't wait to sell it so i can live in Nashville again!!!! Murfreesboro is driving me bonkers b/c of the drive alone!
liz -
I am seriously put out by the EPA right now b/c of the CRAP they're tossing at California's desire to have higher emissions standards (I heard about this over Christmas - here's a link)
When I heard the story on NPR, I got the impression that the EPA denied Cali's appeal to hold higher standards in order to push through the mpg legislation that was the reason I called my congressman a while back. Like maybe there was some sort of sleazy backroom deal that went down about it.
It's just so depressing in a that-shakes-my-faith-in-humanity way.
I'm pretty sure you can leave the window in, I feel like i read that somewhere, but I can't find where. That's awesome that they have recycling picked up. The paper at my office is recycled through our shreading company, but nothing else, we're working on that. I can imagine you're over that drive... I hate driving, from east Nashville to Hillsboro Village is pushing it for me!
Cara
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