New England often blames distant Midwest power plants for the air pollution that blows its way, but a new study shows some of the major air pollution in New England comes from cities a lot closer. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Lester Graham reports:
Transcript
New England often blames distant Midwest power plants for the air
pollution that blows its way. But a new study shows some of the major
air pollution in New England comes for cities a lot closer. The Great
Lakes Radio Consortium’s Lester Graham reports:
Most researchers agree that acid rain in New England is caused by
coal-fired power plants in the Midwest. So, many folks in New England
just assumed that ozone pollution drifted in from the same place.
Preliminary data from an intensive new study by the National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration indicates that’s not true. Instead,
ozone pollution appears to be coming from big east-coast cities. The
pollution drifts offshore for a while, and then is blown back over New
England by sea breezes. Jim Roberts is one of the researchers in the
study…
“This summer-time ozone problem is really going to be solved, I think,
in the New York-Boston area. It’s really not the responsibility of the Midwest.”
Roberts says the Midwest power plants are still contributing
some air pollution problems in New England… but they don’t appear to
be the chief cause of New England’s excessive ozone pollution.
For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, this is Lester Graham.