KevinBott,HeatherVanGorder,WillJordan,HughKelley

Ms.Brooks
AcademicEnglish9
May9,2014

Couldyouthinkofaworldwheretherewouldbenobrightwarmingsunshine,blue
skiesandfluffywhiteclouds.Itwouldbeaworldthatiscastintoanendlessdarkness,life
wouldgrowgrey.Ifonlywecouldstoppollutingtheairwhilewestillcan,andwecanjustby
simplynotbeingcareless.Thisisnotmuchtoaskconsideringwhatwehavedonetothe
earthalready.Ifyoureallycareabouttheearthyouwouldstopkillingit.
Airpollutioncausesmanyproblemsforpeoplenearthepollution.Examplesofthese
problemsarecancer,carcinogens,andasthma.Someastoundingfactsthatprovethis
pointareThatprojectfoundthattherewere14,636moredeathsina14countyWestern
Pennsylvaniaareafrom2000through2008thannationalmortalityratespredicted,
including600additionallungcancerdeaths(Hopey).Furthermore,Allegheny County is in
the top 2% of the U.S. for high risk of cancer caused by harmful air pollutants(Hopey).
Howdoesthisseriousproblemoccur?Airpollutioncausesharmfulparticlestoenterinto
thebodiessystem,inturncanbecomeveryunhealthyforus.Thelevelofexposure
determinesthegreaterriskofdevelopingadisease.Whatdoesthiscause?Themain
problemscausedarerespiratorycancer,heartdisease,andlungcancer(Hopey).People
livinginthePittsburghareahavetwicetheriskofdevelopingcancer(Atkin).Fromthe
previousstatements,wecanconcludethatbecauseofthepollutionlevelsaround
pittsburgh,theairinourcityisproventobe,insomecases,fatal.

Airpollutioncanbethecauseofmanythings,theinhibitedgrowthofplantsand
treesisoneofthem.Whentheplantsdonotgetthepropergassestheycandieofforgo
extinct.Forexample,chemicalsletoutbyindustriesmayformacidfilledcloudsthatrain
downonvegetation,causingtheplantstodie(What).Oneauthorsaid,When acid rain
infiltrates into soils, it changes the chemistry of the soil making it unfit for many
living things that rely on soil as a habitat or for nutrition. Acid rain also changes the
chemistry of the lakes and streams that the rainwater flows into, harming fish and
other aquatic life (What). As you can see, industries can ruin not only peoples lives,
but plant lives too. Ruining plants lives can endanger humans because we need the
oxygen that they produce.
ThemaincausesoftheairpollutioninPittsburgh,PAareindustriesanddiesel
engineemission.Accordingtoonesource,Thereportfoundthatthecensustractswiththe
highestrisklevelsareclusteredinthesoutheasterncornerofAlleghenyCounty,where
heavyindustriesandcokingoperationsaffectairqualityintheLibertyClairtonareanear
U.S.SteelCorp.'s(Hopey).Thereareseveralexamplesofairpollution,onebeing,toxins
thatcauseairpollutionconsistofdieselparticulatematter,benzene,andcokeovengas
emissions(Hopey).Second,industrieslikeenergyproductionsanddieselvehiclescause
themostpollutionintheair(Hopey).Dieselengineemissionisthehighesttoxincausein
thearea(Atkin).Third,coalfiredsteamturbinegeneratingplants(Williams).Finallyfourth,
coalfiredgenerationofelectricityproducestonsofpollutionyearly(Williams).
ThebestsolutiontostoppingairpollutionistojointheorganizationcalledtheClean
AirCouncil.TheCleanAirCouncilbeganin1967tohelppeoplerecognizethedangersof
airpollution(Clean).Asstatedbyoneauthor,Bythemid1970stheCouncilhadmadea
nameforitselfastheresultoftwomajorachievements:1)winningalawsuitagainst
Pennsylvaniaforfailingtoimplementavehicleemissionsinspectionprogramand2)
establishinganddistributingaregionalairqualityindexreport.Whileitsprogrammatic
focusexpandedfromairpollutiontoincludesolidwaste,transportation,andenergy,the
Councilsbudgetandstaffsizeonlyshowedamodestincrease(Clean).Astheprogram
movedforwardAirCouncilbecamemoresuccessful.Theywereabletoestablisha5K
walkforCleanAirinPhiladelphia(Clean).Then,inthe1980sthecouncilfoughtwith
Pennsylvaniaforrefusingtohavevehicleemissionsinspections.However,by1982the
CouncilgotacourtcontemptjudgmentagainstPennsylvania.Thecourtcontemptjudgment
saidthatPennsylvaniawouldlose$495millioninfederalhighwayfundingiftheydidnot
changevehicleinspectionlaws.ThistheresultedinPennsylvaniagivinginandmakingthe
newlaw(Clean).Inadditiontotheresuccess,from1990tothisdayithasbecomeitsown
successfulindependententity.TohelptheCleanAirCouncilbecomemoresuccessfulwith
thereworkyoucanhelpbydonatingtotheirwebsite.Justgotothewebsite,cleanair.org,
andclickthesupportustab.Thereyouwillbeabletodonate$20ormore,makingyoua
betterpersonandtheworldahealthierplacetolivein.
Webelievethatoursolutionwillbesuccessfulforavarietyofreasons.Oneofthese
being,besidesourselves,therearegreatnumbersofotherpeopleinmanysocietiesand
organizationsthatwillsupportandpossiblyfightforoursuggestedlaw.thereareothers
thathaveinfluenceonmanypeoplethatcould,bybeingpopular,convincethemassesto
takeactionaswell.Likeamanwhohasbeendyingformanydays,amaninyourcityis
numbtothestench.(ChiefSeattle).
Anotherfactofsignificance,isthatourlawcouldpossiblybecarriedontheshouldersof
other,morepowerfullawsofthesamenatureasourstodomostofthefightingforus.We
couldusesomeoftheguidelinesandprinciplesthattheselawscreateandusethemtoour
ownadvantage.
Unfortunately,therearetwosidestothisbattle.Oppositiontoourplanismost
fiercelybroughttobearbymanyofthecoalandoilcompanies.Theybelievethatthrough
oureffortswearemakingadirectattackontheirbusiness.Theyfightthesupporterson
everyfronttheycan.Eventhoughtheymakeahugeprofit,theyalsomakeahugeimpact
ontheworldtheylivein.Inthisway,theyareincorrectinthisblindanddestructivepursuitof
moneyandpower.
MuchoppositionhasalsobeenbroughtupbytheGovernment.
Approximately80%ofourairpollutionstemsfromhydrocarbonsreleasedbyvegetation,
soletsnotgooverboardinsettingandenforcingtoughemissionstandardsfrom
manmaderesources.(Reagan).
Youarenowawareoftheproblemsassociatedwithairpollution,thecausesofair
pollution,andwaysthatyouandIcansolvetheseproblems.IftheCleanAirCouncil
receivedmorepublicattentionthanitwouldbeabletostopairpollutiononceandforall.
Withitscompanygrowingnationallytodayitcouldbeabletopossiblystoppollutionin
manycounties(About).ThoughAmericahasabigairpollutionproblem,wearejustoneof
manycountriestohavethisissue.Alleghenyisinthetop2percentintheU.Sforhighrisk
ofcancers(Hopey).HelpCleanAirCouncilorGroupagainstSmogandPollution(GASP)
andmakedonationssotheycanhelpfightandsaveourworld.