Air Pollution Essay
Dylan Popp
Joe Bolinger
SPEA V161
29 April 2014
Public Policy Solutions for Air Pollution in Select U.S. Cities According to the Oxford Dictionary, air pollution is defined as, “the presence in, or introduction into, the air of a substance which has harmful or poisonous effects.” When an individual thinks of air pollution, chances are they typically imagine a dark smog hanging over an urban area, causing problems such as asthma and other respiratory problems for those who have no choice but to breathe in the air. However, there are several different types of air pollution, some of which are actually invisible to the naked eye. Some air pollutants are responsible for global warming such as carbon dioxide, methane, chlorofluorocarbons, and sulfur dioxide, just to name a few. According to a National Geographic article dated November 8th, 2013, air pollutants have been found to cause lung cancer, which has even happened to an eight year old child in China (Brink 2013). According to an article from Businessweek dated March 27th, 2014, the World Health Organization was able to link 7 million deaths worldwide in 2012 to air pollution alone, making it the “world’s largest single environmental health risk” (Larson 2014). In other words, one out of eight deaths in 2012 were attributed to air pollution (Larson 2014). According to an article from The Guardian, roughly half of Americans (approximately 148 million individuals) are currently living with dangerous levels of air pollution (Goldenberg 2014). Due to the threats that air pollution poses to individuals, or, rather, the Earth and everything living in it as a whole, several states and municipalities have attempted to implement policies reduce air pollution with varying results. This paper will examine the efforts of two regions: New York State and the municipality of Houston, Texas. One particular study on the results of a public policy in New York State aimed at reducing emissions of nitrogen oxide, a pollutant that
Joe Bolinger
SPEA V161
29 April 2014
Public Policy Solutions for Air Pollution in Select U.S. Cities According to the Oxford Dictionary, air pollution is defined as, “the presence in, or introduction into, the air of a substance which has harmful or poisonous effects.” When an individual thinks of air pollution, chances are they typically imagine a dark smog hanging over an urban area, causing problems such as asthma and other respiratory problems for those who have no choice but to breathe in the air. However, there are several different types of air pollution, some of which are actually invisible to the naked eye. Some air pollutants are responsible for global warming such as carbon dioxide, methane, chlorofluorocarbons, and sulfur dioxide, just to name a few. According to a National Geographic article dated November 8th, 2013, air pollutants have been found to cause lung cancer, which has even happened to an eight year old child in China (Brink 2013). According to an article from Businessweek dated March 27th, 2014, the World Health Organization was able to link 7 million deaths worldwide in 2012 to air pollution alone, making it the “world’s largest single environmental health risk” (Larson 2014). In other words, one out of eight deaths in 2012 were attributed to air pollution (Larson 2014). According to an article from The Guardian, roughly half of Americans (approximately 148 million individuals) are currently living with dangerous levels of air pollution (Goldenberg 2014). Due to the threats that air pollution poses to individuals, or, rather, the Earth and everything living in it as a whole, several states and municipalities have attempted to implement policies reduce air pollution with varying results. This paper will examine the efforts of two regions: New York State and the municipality of Houston, Texas. One particular study on the results of a public policy in New York State aimed at reducing emissions of nitrogen oxide, a pollutant that