Environmental groups are praising an Ontario plan to crack down on the pollution that contributes to smog. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Karen Kelly reports:
Transcript
Environmental groups are praising an Ontario plan to crack down on the pollution that contributes to smog. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Karen Kelly reports:
Ontario has announced new limits on the amount of nitrogen oxide and sulfur dioxide that can be released into the atmosphere. The two are major ingredients in smog and acid rain.
Quentin Chiotti is with the environmental group Pollution Probe. He says the emissions reductions will be significant, and he sees it as an important step in dealing with a serious health problem.
“From an air pollution and smog perspective, that continues to cause quite significant health impacts. In Ontario, estimated to be about 2,000 premature deaths annually and upwards of 1 billion to 10 billion dollars to the Ontario economy and health care system.”
The new plan is modeled after regulations in the US, but covers a larger number of industries. Ontario’s industrial sector is consistently rated among the worst polluters in North America.
For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Karen Kelly.