Why do Americans not care about air pollution?

[omega3]

I'm from Europe and one thing i've never understood about Americans is that they don't seem to care alot about air pollution. I've visited the US multiple times and I really love the country and its people but I have to say that esp. in the big cities but also in the suburbs the air quality is really bad. I hope most people realize that air polution is both CO2 and fine dust which is responsible for all kinds of breathing conditions with young and old people.

So why don't you put more pressure on your local and state politicians to do something about it?

Can the US do without any oil? Yes it can. You have so much open space which is just begging for more solar, wind turbines and other types of energy (use of water power etc). Elon Musk and others seem to have good ideas.

One positive story I've heard came.. surprisingly.. when I visited Texas. It seems many people in cities like Houston are demanding that their home energy comes from renewables instead of oil and alot of oil companies have started to build wind- and solar turbines on prairies they own to follow demand.

So my advice would be to demand from your city that you want your energy from renewables instead of fossil and as i said, organize in your community and put pressures on your local and state politicians.

But again, why isn't there more protest against Trump wanting even more fossil fuel, which will lead to more air pollution and global warming.

It's really up to you the people to organize your neighbourhood and put pressure on your politicians at all levels. You only have one life and health is the most important thing I've learned over time.

 

[raildogg]

Why focus on pollution by itself? It didn't get to be where it is today by one factor or another. It's part of our way of living and way of thinking. Change that and you will not have environmental problems. But no, our progress supposedly dictates otherwise. Our so-called progress depends on the systematic destruction of nature.

Europeans along with Americas are responsible for the destruction on this Earth. We didn't get here by being good people. Let's not just focus on air pollution now and think by doing so, the problem will go away. Unfortunately, this Westernization disease is spreading rapidly. Pretty soon, China, India and Africa are going to outpace the West. What will that do to the world?

Trump and his people don't care. They want their pipelines, etc. But that is a minor thing. In 4 or 8 years some other puppet will come and do his thing. We need to focus on the bigger picture.

Change the way humans think and feel and everything from pollution to corruption will go away. But since we're all fighting and bickering, that likely won't happen.

 

[Fern]

Hmmm.. The air quality where I live is just fine.

I don't know where you live, but when I lived in Europe (London, Berlin and Paris) I thought the air quality was pretty bad, but those were large cities.

Fern

 

[Exterous]

If you think the US has bad air quality you should probably move out of Europe:

The World Health Organization considers fine particulate matter pollution levels higher than 10 micrograms per cubic meter to be unsafe. The majority of American cities are in the safe zone

Europe is a different story. The average European city has pollution levels that are double what the W.H.O. considers safe, at 21.7 micrograms per cubic meter. In total, 93 percent of Europe’s cities have unsafe levels of pollution when measured against the W.H.O.'s standards.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/31/upshot/pollution-around-the-world-a-matter-of-choices.html
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencet...led-Youre-likely-die-Asia-Eastern-Europe.html

 

[Fanatical Meat]

OP you are falling victim to our (the US) Partisan Politics. Plenty care and plenty of the people who don't want regulation care too. Solar is booming in my area, in the last few years many homes have added it plus several large solar farms have been built.

 

[Paratus]

I'm from Europe and one thing i've never understood about Americans is that they don't seem to care alot about air pollution. I've visited the US multiple times and I really love the country and its people but I have to say that esp. in the big cities but also in the suburbs the air quality is really bad. I hope most people realize that air polution is both CO2 and fine dust which is responsible for all kinds of breathing conditions with young and old people.

So why don't you put more pressure on your local and state politicians to do something about it?

Can the US do without any oil? Yes it can. You have so much open space which is just begging for more solar, wind turbines and other types of energy (use of water power etc). Elon Musk and others seem to have good ideas.

One positive story I've heard came.. surprisingly.. when I visited Texas. It seems many people in cities like Houston are demanding that their home energy comes from renewables instead of oil and alot of oil companies have started to build wind- and solar turbines on prairies they own to follow demand.

So my advice would be to demand from your city that you want your energy from renewables instead of fossil and as i said, organize in your community and put pressures on your local and state politicians.

But again, why isn't there more protest against Trump wanting even more fossil fuel, which will lead to more air pollution and global warming.

It's really up to you the people to organize your neighbourhood and put pressure on your politicians at all levels. You only have one life and health is the most important thing I've learned over time.

I'm from the Houston area and low and behold the cheapest electrical rates were for 100% renewables last time we changed providers. We have lots of wind turbines in Texas.

CO2 is exhaust and while it has some beneficial properties like being required for photosynthesis and keeping the planet from being an ice ball those benefits are overshadowed by the excessive warming at the increased PPM we are at today.

There are technical solutions to replacing fossil fuels completely, (or at least their negative side effects). What's lacking in the US is the will of our elected officials.

(Our US House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology just tweeted a link and support to a hilariously wrong Breitbart article on how the Earth is cooling. http://arstechnica.com/science/2016...ttee-tweets-breitbart-climate-misinformation/

The chair of this committee gets $$ from the fossil fuel industry)

 

[K1052]

^

Fortunately populous states with increasing RPS and private industry are in the driver's seat on this now. Renewables are both broadly desirable to companies/individuals and economically attractive.

 

[Paratus]

^

Fortunately populous states with increasing RPS and private industry are in the driver's seat on this now. Renewables are both broadly desirable to companies/individuals and economically attractive.

I wonder if the economics of renewables will allow us to hit our Paris Accord agreements even if the EPA rescinds all CO2 rules.

 

[imported_tajmahal]

I also live at a Harris County zip code and find it funny that someone has to lie about the renewable 100% Green energy costs, but par for the course.

 

[K1052]

I wonder if the economics of renewables will allow us to hit our Paris Accord agreements even if the EPA rescinds all CO2 rules.

I don't think it's impossible. Watching the installed cost of wind and solar fall to levels that are unthinkable a decade ago has been interesting so I wouldn't rule it out.

If battery storage can be produced for under $100 per kWh it's good night sweet prince for fossil energy.

 

[Sheik Yerbouti]

Hmmm.. The air quality where I live is just fine.

I don't know where you live, but when I lived in Europe (London, Berlin and Paris) I thought the air quality was pretty bad, but those were large cities.

Fern

sorry, that's equivalent to "hmmm, it's raining by me, why are you saying there's a drought by you?"

 

[KMFJD]

I'm from Europe and one thing i've never understood about Americans is that they don't seem to care alot about air pollution. I've visited the US multiple times and I really love the country and its people but I have to say that esp. in the big cities but also in the suburbs the air quality is really bad. I hope most people realize that air polution is both CO2 and fine dust which is responsible for all kinds of breathing conditions with young and old people.

So why don't you put more pressure on your local and state politicians to do something about it?

Can the US do without any oil? Yes it can. You have so much open space which is just begging for more solar, wind turbines and other types of energy (use of water power etc). Elon Musk and others seem to have good ideas.

One positive story I've heard came.. surprisingly.. when I visited Texas. It seems many people in cities like Houston are demanding that their home energy comes from renewables instead of oil and alot of oil companies have started to build wind- and solar turbines on prairies they own to follow demand.

So my advice would be to demand from your city that you want your energy from renewables instead of fossil and as i said, organize in your community and put pressures on your local and state politicians.

But again, why isn't there more protest against Trump wanting even more fossil fuel, which will lead to more air pollution and global warming.

It's really up to you the people to organize your neighbourhood and put pressure on your politicians at all levels. You only have one life and health is the most important thing I've learned over time.

If Europe is so good about air pollution, why haven't they banned diesel cars yet?

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/may/08/pollutionwatch-europes-problem-diesel-cars

 

[BonzaiDuck]

I'm from Europe and one thing i've never understood about Americans is that they don't seem to care alot about air pollution. I've visited the US multiple times and I really love the country and its people but I have to say that esp. in the big cities but also in the suburbs the air quality is really bad. I hope most people realize that air polution is both CO2 and fine dust which is responsible for all kinds of breathing conditions with young and old people.

So why don't you put more pressure on your local and state politicians to do something about it?

Can the US do without any oil? Yes it can. You have so much open space which is just begging for more solar, wind turbines and other types of energy (use of water power etc). Elon Musk and others seem to have good ideas.

One positive story I've heard came.. surprisingly.. when I visited Texas. It seems many people in cities like Houston are demanding that their home energy comes from renewables instead of oil and alot of oil companies have started to build wind- and solar turbines on prairies they own to follow demand.

So my advice would be to demand from your city that you want your energy from renewables instead of fossil and as i said, organize in your community and put pressures on your local and state politicians.

But again, why isn't there more protest against Trump wanting even more fossil fuel, which will lead to more air pollution and global warming.

It's really up to you the people to organize your neighbourhood and put pressure on your politicians at all levels. You only have one life and health is the most important thing I've learned over time.

Just to inform you from my many decades of experience, I posit that there are certain expected effects and aspects to perception about "Public Goods." Public goods versus private goods: a shared swimming pool or park, versus an ice-cream cone.

Environmental regulation is a public good.

When I was attending college here in my hometown in Southern California, the topography of the land was such that particulate matter and pollution would blow up her from LA with the sea breeze, and concentrate in this basin surrounded by mountains. I can recall one summer when I stood on the edge of campus maybe a quarter-mile from the newly-erected carillon tower with its clock, and I couldn't read the time. At that very moment, I also noticed that I could open my mouth and taste something like sour milk in the air.

Through the state of California's air-pollution control efforts, the air almost seems pristine, but there are feuds over warehousing and trucking here because of the particulate matter and health concerns. And it is still the dirtiest air in the United States for the lack of cleansing rain.

People forget what government provided as a basis of comparison extending back several decades. They do not consider what they're paying for as they drive down the highway or stop at a filling station for more gasoline that is taxed. It isn't as though a drive across town is in anyway similar to buying an ice-cream cone, paying for it immediately and letting the chocolate drool down your chin.

I do not believe that the political battle-cry to eliminate the Environmental Protection Agency or do away with regulations is driven by an understanding of these things. Nor is the idea that we should expand the coal industry, or terminate participation in the Kyoto agreement.

It's based on short-run narrow myopia that assumes the way things are now is the way they always were.

 

[Double Trouble]

If you think the US has bad air quality you should probably move out of Europe:



http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/31/upshot/pollution-around-the-world-a-matter-of-choices.html
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencet...led-Youre-likely-die-Asia-Eastern-Europe.html

There's a good example of how going by anecdotes or gut feel can lead one astray. OP's premise was wrong, so talk of possible solutions and Americans not caring about air quality is all misguided.

 

[Paratus]

I also live at a Harris County zip code and find it funny that someone has to lie about the renewable 100% Green energy costs, but par for the course.

For our usage 100% renewables was between $0.06 and 0.07 per kWh.

While this wasn't my plan here were some similar plans when I got into this same argument on P&N a month or two later.

 

[imported_tajmahal]

at my zip code the difference was 5.9 per kWh to 9.6 per kWh, even yours is not "the cheapest", suck it dude.

 

[Double Trouble]

at my zip code the difference was 5.9 per kWh to 9.6 per kWh, even yours is not "the cheapest", suck it dude.

Same here, renewable is not even in the same ballpark for me yet, and my energy bills are high enough as is.

 

[kage69]

For our usage 100% renewables was between $0.06 and 0.07 per kWh.

While this wasn't my plan here were some similar plans when I got into this same argument on P&N a month or two later.

Clean up, Isle 6. There's parrot shit and feathers everywhere.

 

[agent00f]

I'm from Europe and one thing i've never understood about Americans is that they don't seem to care alot about air pollution. I've visited the US multiple times and I really love the country and its people but I have to say that esp. in the big cities but also in the suburbs the air quality is really bad. I hope most people realize that air polution is both CO2 and fine dust which is responsible for all kinds of breathing conditions with young and old people.

So why don't you put more pressure on your local and state politicians to do something about it?

Can the US do without any oil? Yes it can. You have so much open space which is just begging for more solar, wind turbines and other types of energy (use of water power etc). Elon Musk and others seem to have good ideas.

One positive story I've heard came.. surprisingly.. when I visited Texas. It seems many people in cities like Houston are demanding that their home energy comes from renewables instead of oil and alot of oil companies have started to build wind- and solar turbines on prairies they own to follow demand.

So my advice would be to demand from your city that you want your energy from renewables instead of fossil and as i said, organize in your community and put pressures on your local and state politicians.

But again, why isn't there more protest against Trump wanting even more fossil fuel, which will lead to more air pollution and global warming.

It's really up to you the people to organize your neighbourhood and put pressure on your politicians at all levels. You only have one life and health is the most important thing I've learned over time.

The simple and accurate answer is that half of us were told to not care for an opportunity at the capitalist lottery. Ie. there's money in polluting.

 

[Atreus21]

If Europe is so good about air pollution, why haven't they banned diesel cars yet?

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/may/08/pollutionwatch-europes-problem-diesel-cars

I have scoured this thread for something to nitpick like a real jackass and settled on this.

I could swear the diesel burns cleaner than gasoline, or is at least a better alternative on-average to gasoline on the subject of emissions.

 

[KMFJD]

I have scoured this thread for something to nitpick like a real jackass and settled on this.

I could swear the diesel burns cleaner than gasoline, or is at least a better alternative on-average to gasoline on the subject of emissions.

from the first sentence of the link :

"New UK government tests confirm that diesel cars produce a lot more air pollution in real-world driving when compared with the legal tests. Those sold since 2009 emitted six times more nitrogen oxides, on average.

Compared with the stricter standards applied to petrol cars, the average diesel sold between 2009 and 2015 emitted 19 times more nitrogen oxides."


Better mileage though...

 

[Paratus]

at my zip code the difference was 5.9 per kWh to 9.6 per kWh, even yours is not "the cheapest", suck it dude.

Well like I said it was the cheapest in my area code at the time we changed providers and for our yearly usage.

It's cute though that you tried to call me out as a liar or that the price in your neighborhood negates my point. You'll find I rarely can't support positions.

 

[MrPickins]

If Europe is so good about air pollution, why haven't they banned diesel cars yet?

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/may/08/pollutionwatch-europes-problem-diesel-cars

Some cities are: http://arstechnica.com/cars/2016/12...mexico-city-will-ban-diesel-vehicles-by-2025/

I have scoured this thread for something to nitpick like a real jackass and settled on this.

I could swear the diesel burns cleaner than gasoline, or is at least a better alternative on-average to gasoline on the subject of emissions.

As KMFJD mentioned, they put out a lot more NOx.

If they were as clean as purported, automakers wouldn't need to cheat on the emissions tests, but many (most?) were found to have.

 

[Paratus]

I have scoured this thread for something to nitpick like a real jackass and settled on this.

I could swear the diesel burns cleaner than gasoline, or is at least a better alternative on-average to gasoline on the subject of emissions.

Diesel is slightly more energy dense:
48 MJ/KG vs 46 MJ/KG for gasoline.
So as KMFJD posted below you get better mileage at the expense of worse air pollution or require expensive emission systems.

from the first sentence of the link :

"New UK government tests confirm that diesel cars produce a lot more air pollution in real-world driving when compared with the legal tests. Those sold since 2009 emitted six times more nitrogen oxides, on average.

Compared with the stricter standards applied to petrol cars, the average diesel sold between 2009 and 2015 emitted 19 times more nitrogen oxides."


Better mileage though...

 

[BonzaiDuck]

The simple and accurate answer is that half of us were told to not care for an opportunity at the capitalist lottery. Ie. there's money in polluting.

It's called "externalities" or "external costs." If you impose the toxic by-products of your profitable production on the public, the public either bears the health costs or environmental damage, or the costs of cleaning it up. If the costs had been internalized from the beginning to make producers responsible for containment of their own S***, there wouldn't be a problem.