HEALTH

Using a Pandemic as an Excuse to Pollute Our Air

Earth Day passed quietly before us last month on Wednesday, April 22, 2020. It was the 50th anniversary of the first Earth Day established in 1970. We barely noticed it this year amid the pandemic. Earth Day should be an annual call to action, and this year is no different. As we struggle to survive the chaos caused by the coronavirus, something inspiring is happening. The natural world is slowly repairing itself. It didn't take long for animals to return to urban areas, for our waterways to clean up enough to allow aquatic life to return, and for our skies to clear while keeping air pollution at bay.

Satellite images of declining nitrogen oxide over China and the United States reveal the undeniable connection between human activity and air pollution. However, nature is resilient, and we are witness to its ability to recover. Will the public forget about clean air after controlling this nightmare epidemic? I hope not.

But it may be too late. Threats to our blue skies are already underway. Satellite images of declining air pollution have given us a glimpse of what could happen, yet the United States will not allow us to imagine clean air for everyone. Before the end of March, Trump's Environmental Protection Agency, under Andrew Wheeler, rolled back regulations protecting air quality. The agency will now allow the industry to monitor itself and emit pollution without penalty.

Trump's EPA also rescinded corporate fuel economy (or CAFE) standards that the Obama administration had championed to reduce greenhouse gases. Reducing greenhouse gases helps clean the air. Lower gas combustion in a vehicle means fewer tailpipe emissions in the form of particulates and nitrogen oxides that contribute to smog and trigger asthma attacks.

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It is no coincidence that it was undone when it happened. These rollbacks have been strategically timed to ensure that the next Congress cannot reverse the rules. It's called the Congressional Review Act of 1996 (or CRA). This means that the next administration cannot simply reverse it by presidential order.

Air pollution from industry and cars damages the lungs and increases the risk of premature death during normal times. However, during the COVID-19 pandemic, air pollution is causing worsening symptoms and death much faster in communities of color that have historically been targeted by industrial and highway pollution.

Trump's Environmental Protection Agency says the cancellations were made in response to the coronavirus, to be “business friendly.” For me, the timing is political. The public is preoccupied with surviving the pandemic. It is very difficult to fight bad environmental policy if you feel you have to choose between relaxed standards and losing your job (and health care benefits). To make the decline less noticeable, the increase in automobile and industrial pollution will be less pronounced now that the air is much cleaner than usual.

How does this story end? We must prepare to fight the rollback of clean air rules, starting with controlling this virus. But I wouldn't be surprised if the declines continue. I saw this happen in Texas when Hurricane Harvey hit the Gulf Coast and drenched Houston with record rains. Air monitors were shut down during Hurricane Harvey, and after the storm, air monitoring was limited.

Although there is no comprehensive data, residents near the Ship Channel, the petrochemical complex that makes Houston the “oil and gas capital of the world,” have been told that their air is safe enough. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (the state's version of the EPA) declined to share data records and how decisions were made.

Residents know best. They can tell when the air is polluted. They suffer from headaches and throat irritation. To help residents, a non-profit organization monitored the air in their homes and found that benzene levels were higher than normal. In contrast, the US Environmental Protection Agency and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality rejected an offer by NASA to fly a plane over Houston to collect air samples. The state went to great lengths to avoid data collection or reduce the futility of conducting health assessments.

Let's choose a better ending to our story. We must prepare to fight the entire Texas country. The rules enacted to monitor and report pollution cannot remain in effect after the November election.

sources:

https://apnews.com/fe6a725b992616745ce4d6b2d028e513
https://projects.propublica.org/graphics/harvey-manchester
https://www.texastribune.org/2019/12/16/hurricane-harvey-air-pollution-monitoring-epa-report/



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