Although they may seem like unrelated dangers, local air pollution and global warming are really twin threats. Many of the activities that pollute the air we breathe do double time by changing the climate globally. Local air pollution is no small problem. The Clinton administration recently proposed new air-quality regulations because scientists have found that smog and soot are hazardous to human health. Ground-level ozone, the main component of smog, causes breathing problems, aggravates asthma, and may worsen respiratory infections.
Children are particularly at risk.
Fine particles, or soot, can lodge deep in the lungs and aggravate asthma, sometimes resulting in hospitalization or even death. The Clinton proposal would cut ozone emissions by a third and add new limits on fine particles 2.5 microns in size. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, the new standards would save tens of thousands of lives a year. But requiring industry to change the way it produces energy and asking Americans to reduce their energy consumption are not such bad ideas. If states with serious air pollution problems required cleaner cars, such as those run on electricity or hydrogen fuel cells, and implemented policies supporting alternatives to car travel, contributions to global warming would decrease considerably, since every gallon of gasoline produced and burned in a vehicle releases roughly 25 pounds of carbon dioxide.