NC air quality second worst in country

Thanks to the AsheVillein for this write-up:

The North Carolina Public Interest Research Group released a study this week which places North Carolina second, behind Ohio, for the highest level of power plant pollutants released into the air in 2004. Come on, Progress. Come on Duke. We can do better. Number 2 is the first loser, right guys?



The 65-page report is long on detail and begins,

Every day in America, industrial facilities release millions of pounds of toxic substances into the nation’s air and water. Many Americans – especially those who live in close proximity to industrial facilities –harbor deep concern about how those toxic releases may affect their health.

Harbor deep concern about those toxic releases affecting their health. Go figure. I mean, it's not like we have County Commissioners and power companies making secret deals to build just such industrial facilities upwind from cities... oh, wait, here in Buncombe County we do. And it is not like industry would lie about their ambitions and facts about their pollution... oh wait, they do that too.

I guess then we should harbor deep concern then.

Of course, it could be worse, it can always be worse. We could be in Texas, where G. W. Bush had more time to mess things up than he has in the rest of the USA.

Okay, you say, we also are not as bad as Louisiana, South Carolina, and Alabama, but is that a goal to which we wish to aspire?

The report also breaks out the North Carolina data by itself. I have just begun going over it and will be back later with an update.

This is gonna hurt some people's careers.