Clearing the Air: a Global Agenda

DOCUMENT RESUME ED 315 316 SE 051 211 AUTHOR French, Hilary F. TITLE Clearing the Air: A Global Agenda. Woridwatch Paper 94. INSTITUTION Woridwatch Inst., Washington, D.C. REPORT NO ISBN-0-916468-95-X PUB DATE Jan 90 NOTE 59p. AVAILABLE FROMWorldwatch Institute, 1776 Massachusetts Ave., NW, Washington, DC 20036 ($4.00). PUB TYPE Reports - Descriptive (141) -- Viewpoints (120) EDRS PRICE MFO1 Plus Postage. PC Not Available from EDRS. DESCRIPTORS *Air Pollution; *Conservation (Environmr3nt); *Environmental Education; *Environmental Standards; *Global Approach; Hazardous Materials; Motor Vehicles; Public Health; *Science and Society ABSTRACT The environmental impact of air pollution on the earth can be described as grave. Air pollution, partizularly acid rain, is devastating forests, crops, and lakes over wide areas of North America and Europe. In many cities, ancient buildings have eroded more in recent decades than they had over the previous thousand years. Indications are that Third World countriesare starting to experience damage as well. This document discusses the state of the earth in relation to the air pollution problem. Specifically discussed are: (1) "The Global Threat;" (2) "The Environmental Toll;" (3) "Reducing Emissions;" (4) "A Political Progress Report:" and (5) "An Agenda for Clean Air." (CW) **************w***********nA************xx************r**********rt*g** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. *******************************************K*************************** The Worldwatch litute is an independent, nonprofitresearch organization created to analyze andto focus attention on global problems. Directed by Lester R.Brown, Worldwateh is funded by private foundations and UnitedNations organizations. Worldwatch papers are written for a worldwide audience of decisionmakers, scholars, and the general public. Clearing the Air: A Global Agenda Hilary F. French Worldwatch Paper 94 January 1990 4 Sections of this paper may be reproduced in magazines and newspa- pers with acknowledgment to the Worldwatch Institute. The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of the Worldwatch Institute and its directors, officers, or staff,or of funding organizations. 0 Worldwatch Institute, 1990 Library of Congress Catalog Number 89-51926 ISBN 0-916468-95-x Printed on recycled paper Table of Contents Introduction 5 The Global Health Threat 7 The Environmental Toll 17 Reducing Emissions 24 A Political Progress Report 30 An Agenda for Clean Air 37 ,." Introduction Coketown lay shrouded in a haze of its own, which appeared impervious to the sun's rays. You only knew the town was there because there could be no such sulky blotch upon the prospect without a town. A blur of soot and smoke, now confusedly tend- ing this way, now that way..a dense formless jumble, with sheets of cross light in it, that showed nothing but masses of darkness. The filthy air of industrial revolution England, memorialized in this passage from Charles Dickens's Hard Times, is generally perceived as o. thing of the past. But in many parts of Eastern iurope, the Soviet Union, and the developing world, similar air pollution conditions persist today. Even in the West, where air pollution is now far less vi4ible than it was in Dickens's time, poor air quality nevertheless contributes to hundreds of thousands of deaths and millions of ailments each year, dying forests and lakes, and corroding buidings and monuments. Severe air pollution-related health problems span continents and levels I of development. In the United States, some 150 million people live in arewhere the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has declared that the air is unfit. In greater Athens, the number of deaths rises sixfold on heavily polluted days. In Hungary, a recent report by the National Institute of Public Health concluded that every 24th disability and every 17th death is caused by air pollution. In Bombay, breathing the air is equivalent to smoking 10 cigarettes a day. And in Mexico, the capital has been declared a hardship post for diplomats because of its unhealthy air; some governments advise women not to have children while posted there) I would like to thank Chris Calwell, Peter Sand, Debbie Sheiman, Michael Walsh, Fiona Kir, and several of my colleagues at the Worldwatch Institute for their insightful com- ments on preliminary drafts of this paper. The environmental impact of air pollution is equallygray-, Air pollution, particularly acid rain, is devastating forests,crops, and lakes over wick areas of Europe and North America. Inmany cities, ancient buildings have eroded more in recent decades than they hadover the previous thousand years. Indications are that the Third World is starting to experience damage as well. A century ago, air pollution was caused primarily by the coal that fueled the industrial revolution. Since then, the problem hasgrown increasingly complex and widespread. In parts of the world that contin- ue to rely on hi y polluting brown coal for the bulk of their energy, including muc of Eastern Europe and China, coal is still the main source of air pollution. Elsewhere, however, automobiles and industries are now a primary cause. Many areas that have had long-standingprograms to abate pollution are finding their efforts overwhelmed as their populations and economies grow, bringing in ever more power plants, home furnaces, factories, and motor vehicles. Industrial activitiesare increasingly emit- ting pa' :ants of worrisome toxicity. Millions of tons ofcarcinogens, mutagens, and poisons are released into the air each year, damaging health and habitat near their sources and, via the winds, sometimes thousands of kilometers away.2 Even some of the solutions have become part of the problem: the tall smokestacks that were built in the sixties and seventies to disperse emissions became conduits to the upper atmosphere for the pollutants that form acid rain. Once a local phenomenon primarily affecting city dwellers and the immediate inhabitants of industrial plants, air pollution now reaches rural as well as urban dwellers andcrosses interna- tional borders. Since one country's activitiescan damage another's citizens and ecosystems, emissions have become the subject of interna- tional negotiations and treaties. 'Tho.agh there have beensome reduc- tions in specific pollutants in specific areas, in general the problem has only gotten worse. Meanwhile, global warming has arisen as a main focus of environm,n- tal concern, sometimes conveying the misleading impression that air "Air pollution has proven so intractable that a book could be written about the history of efforts to combat it" pollution is yesterday's problem. But traditional air pollutants and greenhouse gases stem largely from the burning of fossil fuels in energy, transportation, and industrial systems. Having common roots, air pollution and global warming can also have common solutions.7 Unfortunately, policymakers persist in tackling them in isolation, which runs the risk of lessening one set of problems while exacerbating the other. Air pollution has proven so intractable a phenomenon that a book could be written about the history of efforts to combat it. The world's first clean air act may have been a 1306 proclamation by King Edward 1 of England banning the burning of "sea coles"chunks of coal found the seashoreby London craftsmen. Nearly six centuries later, the Coal Smoke Abatement Society, probably the world's first air pollution pressure group, was founded in London to combat that city's leg- endary soot. Nonetheless, thousands of Londoners died in the infamous "black fog" of 1952, leading to stricter emissionsreguladons. Today, the Coal Smoke group has a new name, the NationalSociety for Clean Air, but its work remains unfinished. Though coal smoke is no longer the main problem, air quality is still unsatisfactory. Similarly, in the 'United States, Congress passed a landmark Clean Air Act in 1970, g that it would restore urban air quality. Twenty years later, Occtimunitresstill are not in compliance, and Congress is back drafting a revised version.3 The reason efforts to clear the air have only been marginally successful at best is because they have focused on specific measures to combat individual pollutants rather than addressing the underlying societal structures that Iiive rise to the problem in the first place. Winning the battle against air pollution will require moving beyond this myopic approach by reforming energy, transportation, and industrial systems. The Global Health Threat That air pollution could cause serious health problems first became evident during the industrial revolution, when many cities in Europe and the United ,tates were covered with black shrouds of coal smoke. S On bad days, sicknesswas common, sometimes even leading to deaths.4 8Incidents such as London's "blackfog" promptedmany governments to enact legislation to combat theprimary pollutants of the day, sulfur dioxide (SO2) and particulateemissions from stationarysources such as power plants, industries, and home furnaces.Both and particu- lateseither aloneor in combinationcan raise the incidence ofrespi- ratory diseases such as coughs andcolds, asthma, bronchitis, and emphysema. Particulate matter(an overall term fora complex and varying mixture of pollutants inminute solid form) cancarry toxic met- als deep into the lungs.5 With the aid of pollution controlequipment and improvements inener- gy efficiency,

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