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EPA head Lisa Jackson had been pushing hard for the updated standard to replace the 2008 model, which the American Lung Association says “failed to protect public health, failed to follow the scientific community’s recommendations, and was legally indefensible.”

Ground-level ozone is a primary component in the creation of smog. People with lung disease, children, older adults, and people who are active can be affected when ozone levels are unhealthy. Numerous scientific studies have linked ground-level ozone exposure to a variety of problems, including:

Airway irritation, coughing, and pain when taking a deep breath
Wheezing and breathing difficulties during exercise or outdoor activities
Inflammation, which is much like a sunburn on the skin
Aggravation of asthma and increased susceptibility to respiratory illnesses like pneumonia and bronchitis
Permanent lung damage with repeated exposures.

Healthy people also experience difficulty in breathing when exposed to ozone pollution. Because ozone pollution usually forms in hot weather, anyone who spends time outdoors in the summer may be affected.

As the ALA notes, “By choosing to ignore the recommendations of the Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC), the President is failing to follow the nation’s landmark air pollution law, the Clean Air Act, and therefore failing to protect public health, particularly those most at risk including children, older people, and people who suffer from chronic lung diseases. For these people, breathing smog-polluted air can lead to coughing and wheezing, restricted airways, hospitalization and even death. Even healthy young adults and people who exercise or work outdoors can suffer from high levels of ozone pollution.”

All Americans, especially those already most at-risk from smog pollution, deserve the kind of protection ALA and EPA have called for. The President’s position on this issue is predicated by the false notion that tougher standards will adversely impact job creation. Remind the President that the creation of greener, cleaner jobs was at one time a top priority for his administration, and that his decision to punt on better smog standards is misguided and puts millions of Americans at needless risk.

For Wednesday, mostly clear skies and a decrease in winds overnight will allow a strong temperature inversion to develop by early morning. High clouds will begin to move in later in the morning associated with an approaching warm front from a developing low pressure system over the Midwest. Light winds and a continuation in rising dew point temperatures that we have seen so far this week will help PM 2.5 levels to rise into low Code Orange range for the day. As we move into the warm sector of the frontal system, winds will continue to remain light but become more south/southeasterly. This will recirculate some of the already modified air that we had over the region on Tuesday before the increase in northwesterly winds. A light breeze after the inversion breaks will help with mixing of the lower atmosphere but PM 2.5 levels will be high enough both in the morning and late tomorrow evening to forecast low Code Orange. Forecast highs will be several degrees above normal as well, in the upper 40s to near 50 late in the day. Some isolated showers may develop with the warm front but should remain the west of the forecast region.

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We appreciate these discussions. Christopher Cocca, our Outreach Director, had this to add:

“Interestingly, getting buy-ins for the Share The Ride Challenge, even in this economic environment, was pretty tough, which my colleagues and I (working with the Air Quality Partnership of Lehigh Valley – Berks) found somewhat surprising. The Commonwealth used to help us fund “Ride Free on Red” days with LANTA…if Air Quality Conditions (ozone pollution, in this case), were forecast to reach Code Red levels (according to the Air Quality Index), rides on LANTA were free for that forecasted day. This was a great program that we’ve been working to bring back for years. Ridership increased greatly on ride-free days, and ridership among the elderly (a group greatly under-served by our current transit options, according to a study that come out over the summer), doubled. We’re working with DEP and local partners like LANTA to find ways of bring this important program back on-line.”

The Lehigh Valley is the 13th-Smoggiest Medium-Sized Metro Region in the Country

There was a time when this would have been because of all of the industry booming here along our rivers. These days, it’s mostly because of how much time most of us spend in our cars. We’re a commuting metro region, and 1-78, the great East Coat conduit that cuts right through our valley, brings thousands of just-passing-through drivers who leave their emissions hanging in low elevation between our mountains. On hot summer days, those emissions interact with naturally-occurring volatile organic compounds, get baked by the sun, and make for unhealthy levels of smog in the region.

That the Lehigh Valley has air quality (and commuter) problems isn’t news. What many folks don’t know, however, is that the air quality standards the EPA currently uses to warn the public about bad air quality days is, by most scientific accounts, sadly out of date. Barack Obama has recently punted the issue to 2013, an awfully presumptive move at the moment.

Here in Pennsylvania, meteorologists at the Department of Environmental Protection produce air quality forecasts every day that specifically indicate the levels of fine particle pollution and ground-level ozone (o3) likely to be present in our air. These levels are matched against the federal Air Quality Index, a color-coded indicator meant to tell us when air conditions will be unsafe for various groups. Green Days are supposed to be healthy for everyone. Yellow Days are likely to be unhealthy for children, the elderly, and people with respiratory conditions. Orange follows yellow, red follows orange, and Purple Days are unsafe for everyone. Maroon Days are extremely dangerous.

Working in accordance with these federal guide lines, which PennEnvironment and others have called out-of-date, the DEP announces Air Quality Action Days when levels for either pollutant (particle pollution, in this case, PM2.5, and ground-level ozone) are expected to exceed Code Yellow levels. Once upon a time in the Lehigh Valley, residents could ride LANTA for free on Air Quality Action Days when orange levels were exceeded. The “Ride Free On Red” program has been without vital state funding for some time, even though evidence compiled by LANTA and the Air Quality Partnership shows clear surges in LANTA use, especially among the elderly, on Code Red Days.

Why was this important? Because ride-sharing, car-pooling, and mass-transit are essential to reducing ozone emissions (smog) generally and on Air Quality Action Days specifically. There are other personal choices and behaviors that citizens can use to reduce their personal levels of smog production, and they can all be found at AirQualityAction.org, the online home of the Air Quality Partnership of Lehigh Valley – Berks.

As I said on television and in the press release accompanying the release of the report, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania can and should play a lead role in demanding a much-needed change to federal guidelines, and should also make it easy for government agencies and state businesses to incentivize the kinds of commuter habits that would help us reduce ozone levels across the state.

All of this comes as some presidential contenders are pushing for the abolition of the EPA. I saw one prospective voter question the validity of regulating “dust,” certainly not knowing the the regular of fine particle pollution (like the regulation of ground-level ozone emissions) saves lives. Particle pollution doesn’t just dissipate to nothing. It turns out that Kansas was wrong about that: dust in the wind ends up lungs, and so does ground-level ozone. Both put our most vulnerable populations at risk, and reducing the occurrence of both here in the greater Lehigh Valley is the Air Quality Partnership’s main mission.

We’re at a critical economic, political, and environmental crossroads. Our partnership needs increased participation from business, government, and health leaders. We need new ways to fund projects like “Ride Free on Red,” and we need public engagement in initiatives like our newest endeavor, the Share the Ride Challenge. We continue to have great successes with regional educators and students, providing tremendous educational resources ate age-specific levels to primary and secondary public schools across three counties.

I’m an asthma sufferer, but as I said last week, our calls for continued education, advocacy, and support are not a case of special pleading. We all breathe the same air, and most of us are just as culpable as the next person in the production of smog. Our partnership exists to educate, to advocate, and encourage practical changes at corporate and private levels so that we all might breathe a little easier. Please help us.

Allentown, Pennsylvania: Today PennEnvironment released a new report showing that the Allentown metropolitan area was the 13th smoggiest in the nation of similarly sized municipalities. Smog is a harmful air pollutant that leads to asthma attacks and exacerbates respiratory illnesses, especially among children and the elderly. The new report, Danger in the Air: Unhealthy Air Days in 2010 and 2011, also found that there were 35 days in 2010 in Pennsylvania when at least part of the state experienced smog levels exceeding the national health standard, making it the sixth smoggiest state in the nation. Also, this summer, residents in the Allentown area have already been alerted to unhealthy air on 12 days.

“Pennsylvanians deserve clean air. But on far too many days, people in the Allentown area are exposed to dangerous smog pollution,” said Meredith Meisenheimer, Preservation Associate for PennEnvironment. “For the sake of our children, we must make every day a safe day to breathe.”

The new report ranks cities in Pennsylvania and across the country for the number of days when the air was unhealthy to breathe due to smog pollution last year and this summer, and includes new data showing that the problem is even worse than the public thought. Overall, seven metropolitan areas in Pennsylvania are among the top 30 smoggiest large and mid-sized metropolitan areas in the country.

The research shows that on 9 additional days last year, residents in the Allentown area were exposed to smog levels that a national scientific panel has found to be dangerous to breathe, but because of outdated federal air quality rules, those at risk were never alerted to unhealthy air levels.

PA Rep. Steve Samuelson and Chris Cocca with the Air Quality Partnership of Lehigh Valley-Berks joined PennEnvironment in releasing today’s report in the Lehigh County Government Building in downtown Allentown.

Smog is one of the most harmful air pollutants, and is also one of the most pervasive. Smog is formed when pollution from cars, power plants, and industrial facilities reacts with other pollutants in the presence of sunlight. Smog is of particular concern in the summer months when warmer temperatures lead to the build-up of higher concentrations of smog pollution.

On days with elevated levels of smog pollution, children, the elderly, and people with respiratory illness suffer the most. Children who grow up in areas with high levels of smog may develop diminished lung capacity, putting them at greater risk of lung disease later in life.

Cocca said, “Because of smog pollution, too many Pennsylvanians are breathing air that makes us sick. Three groups that we, as a Commonwealth, should be in the business of protecting, the very young, the elderly, and those of us with congential respiratory problems, are at even greater risk. All Pennsylvanians deserve clean air, and should demand it.”

Gas and oil drilling activities in Pennsylvania and across the country also contribute significantly to smog pollution in our cities. Each year, oil and gas industry activities emit more than 2.2 million tons of smog-forming volatile organic compounds (VOCs) nationwide. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has proposed rules that would cut this pollution by one-quarter, along with other harmful emissions, helping relieve the unhealthy air days plaguing Pennsylvania according to the report. The agency’s public comment period on this proposed rule will end on October 24th.

Additionally, children exposed to smog in the womb can experience lower birth weight and growth retardation. Even among healthy adults, repeated exposure to smog pollution over time permanently damages lung tissues, decreases the ability to breathe normally, exacerbates chronic diseases like asthma, and can even cause premature death.

Under the federal Clean Air Act, the Environmental Protection Agency is required to set a national standard for smog pollution according to the latest science on air quality and public health. However, the current standard was set at a level that EPA’s own board of independent scientists agrees is not adequately protective of public health. The Obama administration considered updating the standard this year to protect public health, but the president decided earlier this month to abandon this effort until 2013. PennEnvironment and prominent public health groups expressed deep disappointment with his decision.

“For too long, smog pollution has left our children gasping for breath,” said Meisenheimer. “Unfortunately, rather than acting decisively to protect our kids from dangerous air pollution, President Obama chose to kick the can dow

“Pennsylvanians shouldn’t have to spend their summers worrying about how they will afford to drive, let alone whether their children are breathing air pollution, and whether their beaches are safe from oil spills. President Obama should take a bold step to solve all of these problems and put cleaner cars in the fast lane,” said Megan Fitzpatrick, Federal Field Associate at PennEnvironment.

This report shows that by helping consumers burn less oil, cleaner cars would mean we burn less cash too, saving Pennsylvanians $2.5 billion over the summer. “Not only could you afford that roadtrip to the beach, but you could book a hotel and stick around for a week with the money you’ve saved.”

Based on current gas prices, Pennsylvanians are expected to spend more than $4.8 billion at the gas pump over the course of the summer.  Since no relief is in sight for the price of gas and our oil consumption continues to have dire consequences for our health and environment as well, PennEnvironment pointed to reducing our dependence on oil as the only viable solution.

PennEnvironment was joined by Commissioner Percy Dougherty and Chris Cocca from the Air Quality Partnership of Lehigh Valley – Berks in releasing today’s report.

“In these tough economic times, it is my firm belief that we must do as much as we can to rid ourselves of foreign supplies of oil,” said Commissioner Dougherty. “By increasing fuel efficiency and supporting cleaner cars, we can do that.”

Requiring cars and trucks to meet a 60 mpg standard would be a major step toward getting off oil and decreasing pollution, reducing Pennsylvania’s oil consumption over the summer by 630 million gallons and reducing dangerous carbon dioxide pollution by nearly 6 million metric tons.

“Dirty emissions from single-passenger cars are the major contributor to the air quality crisis our region faces.  A truly clean commuter fleet is something we support, and we need President Obama to go forward with making clean cars a reality. Until then, do your part now by using public transit and sharing the ride,” said Cocca, Outreach Coordinator for the Air Quality Partnership of Lehigh Valley-Berks.

Last year, recognizing the benefits of increasing fuel efficiency and decreasing our oil dependence, the Obama administration set standards for new cars and trucks built between 2012 and 2016 that will save billions of gallons of fuel.

Today, PennEnvironment called on President Obama to take the next step and move clean cars into the fast lane by making 60 miles per gallon cars the norm and not the exception to the rule.

“This summer, we should remember that clean cars could make our fun in the sun all that much better, creating huge benefits for Pennsylvania’s families, our economy and our environment,” said Fitzpatrick.  “We need the Obama administration to push ahead with the clean car standards that will make these benefits a reality.”

PennEnvironment is a statewide, citizen-funded environmental advocacy group that works
for a cleaner, greener future.

The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA) established the annual renewable fuel volume targets, which steadily increase to an overall level of 36 billion gallons in 2022. To achieve these volumes, EPA calculates a percentage-based standard for the following year. Based on the standard, each refiner, importer, and non-oxygenate blender of gasoline or diesel determines the minimum volume of renewable fuel that it must ensure is used in its transportation fuel.

The proposed 2012 overall volumes and standards are:

Biomass-based diesel (1.0 billion gallons; 0.91 percent)
Advanced biofuels (2.0 billion gallons; 1.21 percent)
Cellulosic biofuels (3.45 – 12.9 million gallons; 0.002 – 0.010 percent)
Total renewable fuels (15.2 billion gallons; 9.21 percent)

Based on analysis of market availability, EPA is proposing a 2012 cellulosic volume that is lower than the EISA target for 2012 of 500 million gallons. EPA will continue to evaluate the market as it works to finalize the cellulosic standard in the coming months. The agency remains optimistic that the commercial availability of cellulosic biofuel will continue to grow in the years ahead.

In addition, EPA is proposing a volume requirement of 1.28 billion gallons for biomass-based diesel for 2013. EISA specifies a one billion gallon minimum volume requirement for that category for 2013 and beyond, but enables EPA to increase the volume requirement after consideration of a variety of environmental, market, and energy-related factors

Overall, EPA’s RFS2 program encourages greater use of renewable fuels, including advanced biofuels.  For 2012, the program is proposing to implement EISA’s requirement to blend more than 1.25 billion gallons of renewable fuels over the amount mandated for 2011.

The RFS2 program encourages innovation, strengthens American energy security, and decreases carbon pollution.

Comments are due on or before August 11, 2011.

Information on the standards and regulations: http://www.epa.gov/otaq/fuels/renewablefuels/regulations.htm

Information on renewable fuels: http://www.epa.gov/otaq/fuels/renewablefuels/index.htm