Go Green

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.)

The summer heat is here, and that means it’s also smog season.

For the first time this year,  according to the state Department of Environmental Quality, smog season includes all of Oklahoma — rural corners and all, not just OKC and Tulsa. (Read a story about that here.) The government will be issuing ozone (or smog) warnings all over the state this summer.

You may want to sign up for e-mail alerts from DEQ … they’ll tell you when the air outside is unhealthy so you can consider changing your activities accordingly. For instance, if smog levels are high, it’s not the best idea to go out for a run or an intense bike ride, because the pollution will stick deep in your lungs. If you’re an asthmatic, you may want just to stay inside and wait for the smog to pass.

The reason smog has become a statewide issue is that the EPA recently changed its rule for what it considers to be an unhealthy level of the pollutant. The agency found that smog is unsafe at lower levels that previously thought. Environmental and public health groups sued the federal agency to make a new ruling, and wanted the standard to be made even more strict.

Learn about curbing your smog emissions on our Clean Air site.

Also check out a podcast featuring Linds and me … and a truck driver who has trouble breathing when ozone levels are high.

Here’s more info from DEQ.

John