Under
the guise of protecting the public from pollution, President Obama announced
sweeping regulations for U.S. power plants, forcing them to drastically reduce
carbon dioxide emissions 32 percent by 2030. Coal stocks plummeted to record
lows and two of America’s largest coal companies filed for bankruptcy.
After
such dramatic hits to the job rate and overall economy of America, one would
certainly conclude such a sweeping, dramatic action would be backed up by
science. That validation, however, does not seem to exist.
A
particulate is a microscopic solid or liquid matter suspended in the Earth's
atmosphere. Most people are more familiar with the term aerosol, which commonly
refers to a mixture of particulates and air. Particulates are considered the
deadliest form of air pollution due to their ability to penetrate deep into the
lungs and blood streams.
The
Air Quality Index (AQI) is a number used by government agencies to communicate
to the public how polluted and particulate filled the air currently is. The
scale is typically from 0 to 300.
Here
is a key to better understand the scale:
0 –
50:
Good, Air quality is considered satisfactory, and air pollution poses little or
no risk
51
-100:
Moderate, Air quality is acceptable; however, for some pollutants there may be
a moderate health concern for a very small number of people who are unusually
sensitive
to
air pollution.
101-150: Unhealthy for Sensitive
Groups, Members of sensitive groups may experience health effects. The general
public is not likely to be affected.
151-200: Unhealthy, Everyone may
begin to experience health effects; members of sensitive groups may experience
more serious health effects
201-300: Very Unhealthy, Health
warnings of emergency conditions. The entire population is more likely to be
affected.
300+: Hazardous, Health alert:
everyone may experience more serious health effects
Using
stateoftheair.org rankings, a website that tracks pollution rates throughout
America, Bakersfield-Delano, CA is the most polluted city in the country. Their
annual particulate matter level has fallen from 22.5 and 17.5. since 2000.
Despite the constant claim by the left that America's pollution merits extreme
policy change, the internationally respected AQI would indicate the opposite:
17. 5 is well within the little or no risk region of the scale.
For
some perspective, most of China falls between 50 and 140.
Thousands
of men and women have lost their jobs, a once strong industry of America has
been destroyed and a storm of environmental propaganda has fallen upon our
country. The most reliable data for pollution indicates America has one of the
healthiest air rates in the developed world, but we are now making
rash,irresponsible policy changes to curb a problem that only exists in some
men's imagination. Hopefully America will wake up from this rhetoric educed
nightmare before its too late.
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