By John Sutter
I’ve heard officials in Oklahoma say that some of our air quality woes are due to pollution that floats north from Texas. Some of the highest smog readings in Oklahoma, for instance, come in right along the Red River, on the Texas border.
The Wichita Eagle put that situation in better context with this story.
The paper talks about air quality as an interstate problem that will require cooperation between cities and states. From their perspective, it is Oklahoma’s pollution that is floating north and causing some of the trouble with unheathy air.
… pollution moves up from larger cities to the south such as Oklahoma City and Dallas. Besides reducing its own ozone, Wichita will have to work regionally with other cities to reduce air pollution, which doesn’t recognize borders.
This all comes against the backdrop of regulation changes. The EPA recently tightened its smog rule, which now has more cities and even rural areas worried about air quality. (my story and podcast on that change; also check out our air quality site.)