Pollution

Here are a few of my thoughts on pollution that arise from the whole global warming debate.

1) Environmental Risks Caused by Pollution
Over the past century, the introduction of new products in the transportation sector has increased the economic efficiency of modern day society. With automobiles, employees are able to travel greater distances than before to arrive on time to their work destination. Large semi-trucks with full trailers allow consumer goods to flow across borders to meet their distributors, and airplanes allow businessmen to fly halfway around the world to sign a deal or an economic policy with enough time to be back at home for dinner. On the surface, such goods seem to offer only positive things for our current society. However, basic economic laws teach us that with anything, benefits are always met with costs. Despite the convenience and efficiency that comes with cars, trucks, trains, and airplanes, there are many negative externalities that were not accounted for in their production. Pollution, for example, is a derivative of automobiles that is causing billions of dollars a year in health damages, as well as with fatal long-term damages to our current environment. According to the EPA , carcinogens and other mobile source air toxins (MSAT) are deteriorating the quality of the ozone, making the earth more vulnerable to catastrophic events in the future. The Environmental Protection Agency teaches that the toxins that are emitted daily by transportation vehicles have began to eat away at the surface of the ozone, incrementally increasing the earths temperature, and melting the polar ice-caps in an exponential progress. Other organizations, such as the Natural Resources Defense Council state that the increased heat can cause long-term changes in the earth’s climate, and allow for increased probabilities of flood, drought, and extermination of ecosystems . However, research has proven that the negative effects of pollution are not limited to the environment, and cause even greater immediate effects on the quality of human health.

2) Health Risks of Pollution Caused by Transportation:
Despite the long-term environmental concerns that pollution raises, studies have shown that the health effects caused by daily transportation due to vehicles and airplanes brings forth more devastating and immediate concerns. In an article by the World Health Organization titled Health Effects of Transport-Related Air Pollution , researchers Krzyzanowki, Kuna-Dibber, and Schneider conclude that toxins emitted from automobiles and motorcycles in urban areas create long term respiratory illnesses such as asthma, birth defects, male fertility, and in extreme cases mortality. To illustrate this point, the researchers point to workers in different industries, such as racecar drivers and railway workers, as these professionals demonstrated higher levels of lung cancer and eventual death due to their proximity to the released toxins. In their investigation of the topic, the authors mentioned above of the World Health Organization conduct toxicological research on cells in laboratories exposed to the same toxins from consumer transportation vehicles. Such toxins as benzene, diesel, and butane, as defined by the EPA Office of Transportation and Air Quality , are released to the cells, and the mutations of cell behavior are witnessed and logged. In their research, the WHO determined that exposure to these contents caused inflammation, DNA damage, and eventual cell death. The researchers then applied these results to the human population, and determined that they are not only harmful to humans, but should be eliminated to promote a healthy human race for years to come.
Many urban areas in the international community have learned of the negative externality, and are now pushing for new legislation that would ensure healthier living situations for all. In a study by the American Lung Association , Greater Cincinnati is a region with very liberal EPA standards for air-quality, and currently has 409,000 children under the age of 14, and 222,000 adults over the age of 65 affected by illnesses such as cancer and respiratory failures. The study shows that this works out to 5.5% and 7.2% of the respective populations. However, the effects of air pollution are not limited to consumer automobiles and motorcycles. In an article found in Environmental Health Perspectives , a magazine published by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, airplanes are responsible for pumping the highest levels of benzene and formaldehyde into the ozone. In the article, the author writes:
“Airports are among the greatest sources of local air pollution. A major airport's idling and taxiing planes can emit hundreds of tons of VOCs (Volatile Organic Compounds) and NOx annually. John F. Kennedy International Airport is the second largest source of VOCs in New York City. LaGuardia is among the major sources of NOx.”
The combination of the mortal and morbid health effects, along with the devastating environmental damages that are taking place due to pollution has prompted the attention of the international community, and has introduced many policies and legislations that dramatically change the economic situations in nations across the globe.

3) Policies for Limiting Pollution:
In order to combat the exponential decay that pollution from transportation related products is bringing to both human health and the environment, many policies have been put in place, and are on the table for further legislative discussion that could change the course of the global economy in the future. The introduction of new products, standards, and taxation laws are adding boundaries to the introduction of pollutants in the future, but like any product or policy, come with various costs and benefits that must be weighed out before being implemented. According to Rita Pandey in her article Economic Policy Instruments for Controlling Vehicular Air Pollution, there are three directions that the industry could move to in order to fix the worsening pollution situation.