Ozone: What's Texas to Do?

The EPA plans to do a better job of protecting public health by getting tougher on ozone limits for cities. But Houston is not expected to meet current standards any time soon and most other large cities in Texas are out of attainment.

Repeated exposure to ozone can permanently scar lung tissue. Children playing outdoors, joggers and people working outdoors are at risk of serious health problems in areas with high ozone. Studies show that there are more heart attacks and premature deaths on high ozone days.

The EPA proposes lowering the ozone limit from the current level of 84 parts per per billion parts of air to between 70 and 75 parts per billion. To really protect public health, the agency's scientists say the ozone limit should be even lower -- 60 to 70 parts per billion to be safe. Cities stand to loss federal funding if they are not able to reduce pollution enough to attain national air quality standards.

Houston has not attained the EPA limit of ozone set back in 1997, and is not expected to meet it for another 12 years. There are nine counties in the Houston area, three in Beaumont and nine in Dallas that do not meet current standards. It's unlikely that Waco, Austin and San Antonio will be able to meet the new ozone limits. So what is Texas to do? Air Quality Director of Lone Star Sierra Club Neil Carman says Texas needs to create a regional air authority and work on reducing ozone across all of East Texas. He adds that the a first step toward that goal would be to put more dollars into public transit and less into building roads. Cleaner air in Texas is possible. Let your representatives know you want it.