(#189-1) April 10 2015. I happen to think the environment matters. Others think that short-term profit matters more. We differ.

‘CAN-DO’ AMERICA—IN THE SENSE OF A NATION THAT HAS AN EXTROARDINARY ABILITY TO SOLVE EVEN THE MOST SERIOUS PROBLEMS—SEEMS  TO HAVE BEEN REPLACED BY GRIDLOCK

BUT NOT ENTIRELY

I AM MUCH CHEERED!

A DRAMATIC EXAMPLE OF CLEARING UP U.S. AIR POLLUTION—NITROGEN DIOXIDE IN THIS CASE

Most of us don’t seem to realize how damaging air pollution is to our health. It kills more of us than car accidents and reduces the quality of life for millions of us in a very immediate sense (breathing difficulties) and longer-term sense (what we are breathing can cause cancer).

The following is from a www.vox.com story.

Nitrogen dioxide is produced when gasoline gets burned in cars or coal gets burned in power plants. It's been linked to a variety of respiratory problems, and can combine with other pollutants to form smog. It's also a good proxy for pollution more generally.

The EPA first began cracking down on nitrogen dioxide in 1971, and concentrations have fallen sharply over time. Power plant operators have installed scrubbers to remove pollutants from their smokestacks, and car manufacturers have adopted catalytic converters to curtail nitrogen oxides and other emissions. More recently, since 2005, many electric utilities have been switching from coal to natural gas in order to generate electricity.

VOR words 58.

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