Air Pollution Kills 7 Million People a Year; Pruitt Allows More Smog

The Story

• A new World Health Organization report says outdoor and household air pollution kills 7 million people every year.
• The data show a staggering proportion of deaths from seemingly unrelated diseases actually have air pollution to blame: 24 percent of all adult deaths from heart disease, 25 percent from stroke, 43 percent from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and 29 percent of lung cancer deaths.

Why It Matters

• On the same day the WHO report was released, EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt overruled his staff to exempt most of southeast Wisconsin from federal smog limits, making way for a new Foxconn factory.
• Average smog concentrations in all of the exempted Wisconsin areas exceeded federal limits during the past three years.
• Air quality in a given location is not necessarily correlated to the amount of pollution produced there. Wind blows, air travels, and the people who suffer the most are often not the heavy emitters.
• For instance, Maryland is currently monitoring pollution and ozone in its state, and has identified major coal-fired power plant sources well outside of its borders. The state is using these data to bolster its argument in a legal battle that coal-fired power plants in other states are to blame for ozone problems in Baltimore and elsewhere.

What do you think?

Should the federal government do more to constrain air pollution? Are air pollution limits barriers to economic growth? Hit Take Action, then share your thoughts below.

--Sara E. Murphy