May 2006

Air pollution adversely impacts our environment at the local, regional, and global scale. Whether causing health problems in human populations, degrading natural systems through acid rain and nitrogen deposition, or contributing to global climate change and stratospheric ozone depletion, air pollution is an issue of central importance due to its multi-scalar impacts and high social and environmental costs.

Given the gravity of this issue recent international efforts have focused on reducing the impacts of several major air pollutants. These efforts have resulted in declines in levels of airborne particulate matter, SO2 emissions, and airborne lead across the globe. Despite this general progress, levels of these pollutants remain high in many urban areas; sustainable development in these regions must address these concerns or the local environment, health, and economy of these areas will suffer.

Similar to international trends, since the institution of the 1970 Clean Air Act aggregate emissions of six major air pollutants (NO2, O3, SO2, carbon monoxide, lead, and particulate matter) in the U.S. have declined 53%, however potential legislation proposed by the Bush administration (i.e. the 2005 proposed Clean Skies Act) could weaken national air quality standards and bring a halt to these trends. Within the U.S. principle causes of air pollution come from industrial processes and vehicular transportation; domestic air pollution policy should focus on these causes in order to promote sustainable industrial and urban growth.

Given air pollution’s impacts on human health, the environment, and socioeconomic factors at multiple scales, today’s youth have a vested interest in serving as catalysts for implementing stricter air quality standards and reducing atmospheric emissions worldwide.

Policy review for Air Pollution:

Note: The following is a non-exhaustive list of air pollution policies/strategies believed to be particularly effective at addressing current and future air pollution issues. It is highly recommended that these policies be instituted in bundles, rather than in isolation, as the cumulative effects of implementing several options simultaneously will result in a more successful program than individual options implemented in a stepwise fashion.

Highlight adverse impacts of air pollution on human health worldwide. Strongly linking adverse impacts of air pollution on society at large will be a powerful incentive for national governments to allocate resources towards reducing emissions.

Shifting standards for energy systems (factories, plants, etc.) should be instituted as new systems are built. The lifespan of most systems is 50-100 years; building sustainable, low-emitting systems as an international standard will substantially reduce emissions from the industrial sector as well as promote a “culture of sustainability” within industry.

Proactive urban/regional planning should be adopted to mitigate air pollution. Proper planning can correct many of the root causes of air pollution. Additionally, increasing air pollution in urban areas is principally due to vehicle emissions. Given projected rates of urbanization in the Global South (as well as increasing automobile use) it’s important to consider ex-ante strategies to reduce air pollution including: traffic management systems, structuring growth to incorporate public transit, and proactive planning efforts.

Governments should emphasis implementation and on-the-ground action over monitoring concerns. While both are important components of holistic air pollution reduction policy, monitoring does nothing to solve pressing concerns. Development of a monitoring program should be secondary to establishing concrete, achievable action plans to reduce air pollution.

Capacity building is an integral component of any air pollution reduction strategy. By providing resources, support, and guidance for implementing reduction programs, as well as increasing collaboration between various govt/nongovernmental organizations, efforts to reduce air pollution can be maximized.

Regional Air Pollution Reduction pacts should be encouraged. Nations of a similar geographic location, in similar developmental stages, and with similar air pollution problems will be able to better address air pollution issues. These issues are rarely limited to one country, and by addressing these large concerns on a regional basis concerted efforts can be carried out to better deal with larger issues.

Develop Bioregional Air Quality Standards If a given group of nations is jointly held accountable for a region-specific, feasible set of air quality standards, then cooperation among that set of nations will increase, increasing the likelihood of meeting those standards.

Institute Transportation Taxes Vehicle emissions are one of the largest sources of air pollution at the local, regional, and global level. With that in mind, a transportation tax should be instituted to internalize the many environmental and social externalities of automotive transportation. Taxes should be used as: 1) an incentive to decrease fossil fuel and other chemical consumption, 2) a way to benefit alternative energy development and research. 3) a sliding scale depending on geographic location and need for transportation (i.e. rural vs. urban).

Behavioral Change is central to the long-term success of any air pollution reduction initiatives. Through education, extension, community outreach, and awareness raising campaigns the general populace should be made aware of the dangers of air pollution as well as personal strategies to reduce/prevent air pollution. Anti-air pollution initiatives and programs will only be made effective when they have public support.

Increased financing from the Global North should be encouraged. Financial backing and support from the developed world will be vital in increasing available technology and implementation strategies, as well as capacity building efforts in LDCs.

Case Study 1:

Students Fueling the Future is an educational program designed to raise youth’s awareness of the environmental impacts of fossil fuels, the benefits of renewable energy resources, and fuel cells. The program includes workshops, web design, and building fuel model fuel cell car competitions. In 2005 the organization was awarded an EPA Clean Air Excellence Award for its innovative efforts to reduce air pollution.

Case Study 2:

Youth Promoting Green Energy (YPGE) was formed in 2002 by youth organizers of Literacy for Environmental Justice to oppose Hunters Point Power Plant – San Francisco’s largest stationary polluter. Their activities included organizing a march of 700 people and conducting an environmental justice training for more than 25 State Representatives from five different agencies. Moreover, in the summer of 2004, YPGE launched an air-monitoring project in Southeast San Francisco to address the community’s poor air quality.

Resources:

General Air Pollution Information (EPA) http://www.epa.gov/ebtpages/air.html

Atmosphere and Air Pollution: 2006 Global Trends http://www.un.org/esa/sustdev/publications/trends2006/atmosphere.pdf

Natural Resources Defense Council: Air Pollution http://www.nrdc.org/air/pollution/default.asp

United States Air Pollution Trends http://www.epa.gov/airtrends/2006/econ-emissions.html

Earth Policy Institute: Restructuring Taxes to Protect the Environment http://www.earth-policy.org/Updates/Update14.htmht

EPA’s Combined Heat and Power Partnership http://www.epa.gov/chp/pdf/CHPPFactSheet.pdf

Industrial Ecology-Denmark http://www.bsdglobal.com/viewcasestudy.asp?id=77

Cleaner Production in the Textile Industry-Chile http://www.bsdglobal.com/studiesbycountry.asp?cid=4

Improving Technology Transfer to SMEs-Morocco http://www.wbcsd.org/plugins/DocSearch/details.asp?type=DocDet&ObjectId=MTY3NTM

CO2 Tax: Finland http://www.earth-policy.org/Updates/Update14.htm

Reducing Hazardous Waste in Industry http://www.wbcsd.org/plugins/DocSearch/details.asp?type=DocDet&ObjectId=MTY3NTM

LEED Certification/Standards http://www.usgbc.org/

World Health Organization International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC) http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs206/en/