Years ago I travelled to Houston on business, and was surprised at how polluted the air was, especially after living in Denver for years and being painfully aware of that city’s “Brown Cloud.” Flying into and out of Salt Lake City over many years also highlighted for me how temperature inversions can impact air quality. There were days in winter when one could not see the beautiful mountains of Utah from the airport because the air simply was not clear enough. And then there was the year I lived in Mexico, and saw the same inability to see the mountains from the city because the air was so dense. Remember when China banned automobiles during their Olympics?
Houston, we’ve got a problem. I started with a mention of Houston because at the time of my visit, during the Bush administration, it was the most polluted city in America. Evidently Los Angeles and Houston regularly exchange top billing. According to NASA, which is studying Houston’s pollution, the causes are a large and increasing population, heavy automobile usage and multiple chemical industry and power plants.
President Bush exempted power plants from EPA pollution standards, and then went about trying to dismantle the EPA—something our US Representative Scott Tipton and our Colorado Representative Ray Scott have also vowed to accomplish. The problem is that in 2008 a federal court ruled that Bush was violating the law. Earlier the Supreme Court ordered the EPA to regulate greenhouse gasses.
Yesterday Robert Waxman (D-CA) released a 2008 letter from the EPA to President Bush explaining that there was no question about the science of climate change, and that to ignore it was a security threat to our nation. The author of that letter has been testifying in committee hearings led by a Republican legislator who is determined to allow the oil and gas industry to have its way with our environment and our health. We need to make sure that the truth is told, and that we start protecting our environment or this planet will become uninhabitable.
Homework:
Bloomberg Article Re: Bush vs. EPA
NASA Story About Houston's Air Pollution
2008 Story About Court Ruling Bush in Violation of Law
Air Pollution in China
Air Pollution in Mexico City (and other world cities)
Houston, we’ve got a problem. I started with a mention of Houston because at the time of my visit, during the Bush administration, it was the most polluted city in America. Evidently Los Angeles and Houston regularly exchange top billing. According to NASA, which is studying Houston’s pollution, the causes are a large and increasing population, heavy automobile usage and multiple chemical industry and power plants.
President Bush exempted power plants from EPA pollution standards, and then went about trying to dismantle the EPA—something our US Representative Scott Tipton and our Colorado Representative Ray Scott have also vowed to accomplish. The problem is that in 2008 a federal court ruled that Bush was violating the law. Earlier the Supreme Court ordered the EPA to regulate greenhouse gasses.
Yesterday Robert Waxman (D-CA) released a 2008 letter from the EPA to President Bush explaining that there was no question about the science of climate change, and that to ignore it was a security threat to our nation. The author of that letter has been testifying in committee hearings led by a Republican legislator who is determined to allow the oil and gas industry to have its way with our environment and our health. We need to make sure that the truth is told, and that we start protecting our environment or this planet will become uninhabitable.
Homework:
Bloomberg Article Re: Bush vs. EPA
NASA Story About Houston's Air Pollution
2008 Story About Court Ruling Bush in Violation of Law
Air Pollution in China
Air Pollution in Mexico City (and other world cities)
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