To the editor:
These days, the increasing haze you see obscuring the mountains of Western North Carolina isn’t just innocent water vapor. It’s smog, much of it arising from coal-fired power plants in and surrounding the region. And as long-range views become rare and health practitioners note a steep rise in respiratory problems such as asthma and emphysema, many area residents are expressing concern over the impact of declining air quality on the quality of life in WNC.

A few weeks ago the state Environmen-tal Management Commission, by a 10-5 vote, adopted low standards for allowable nitrogen-oxide emissions from older coal-fired power plants in North Carolina. The commission’s plan would reduce emissions only 56 percent by 2004. This decision contradicts 97 percent of comments received during a hearing and public input process conducted throughout the state this summer. Public opinion expressed during this process overwhelmingly favored new rules proposed by the North Carolina Clean Air Coalition that would mandate an 80 percent reduction in nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions.

An 80-percent reduction in NOx is the threshold scientists say must be reached to significantly impact the formation of ground level ozone, a pollutant that damages lung and respiratory tissues in people and animals. Ozone forms when nitrogen-oxide combines with man-made and natural hydrocarbons in the atmosphere.

The NOx pollution in our region originates mostly from outside our state. According to monitoring information gathered by the National Parks Service, coal-fired power plants in Tennessee and the Ohio River Valley account for about 66 percent of the NOx pollution in the Smokies. But, if North Carolina is not willing to raise its own standards to levels that are necessary to reduce ozone pollution, it will be difficult to demand that other states meet those standards.

In response to the air quality crisis and this decision by the Environmental Management Commission, a new grassroots organization -- The Canary Coalition -- is being launched in Western North Carolina, intended to represent the wide base of community support for clean air.

Air quality is an issue that literally affects literally everyone who lives here. Like canaries in the old coal mines, Western North Carolina citizens are involuntarily testing the air and finding it alarming. And as important as the health concerns are, pollution also poses an economic threat to the region’s tourism. Unfortunately, the nation’s most-visited park, the Great Smokies National Park, now has the most polluted air of any national park, according to the Park Service. Where visibility used to be at an average of 60 miles during the summer tourist months, it has been reduced to an average of about 15.

The name for the Canary Coalition comes from the use of canaries in coal mines to warn miners of the presence of deadly gases. When the canary stopped singing and died, it indicated that the gases were at dangerous levels and the mines needed to be evacuated. This metaphor is intended to express to public officials that Western North Carolinians are not willing to be used like canaries for companies that are operating coal-fired power plants with sub-standard emission controls.

The Canary Coalition is beginning the process of coordinating a national media event, The Smoky Mountain Air-Aid Concert, at the Ramsey Center in Cullowhee on April 21 to focus national attention on the air quality crisis in the Smoky Mountain region. The Coalition wants the benefit concert to help fund an air quality monitoring station on the campus of Western Carolina University.

The Canary Coalition will make sure that both state and federal agencies know that the people of Western North Carolina are not going to sit by quietly while our air quality reaches record-setting pollution levels. The mountain community deserves the best pollution control technologies available to be government mandated and deployed immediately, to protect our children’s health, our future, and our natural heritage. The commission, the governor, and other government officials making the decisions regarding our air are supposed to be public servants. They are paid by taxpayers money. They work for us. They should be making decisions that protect our health, our environment and our economy. And they should be listening to the will of the people that was expressed, loudly and clearly, during the public input process. The Canary Coalition will be a watchdog organization to help Western North Carolinians be alert to pending legislation and events related to air quality issues in the region.

The Canary Coalition is seeking sponsorship from local businesses, civic organizations, religious groups, local government officials and individuals. Volunteers are currently being recruited and donations are being accepted.

More information can be obtained on the internet at www.canarycoalition.com

Avram Friedman

Sylva

 

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