Will D.C. residents soon breathe easier when it comes to indoor and outdoor air quality? Maybe. A couple of recent items suggest that we won’t be “waiting to exhale” much longer.
City council member Jim Graham (Ward 1) has a poll on his blog (we see permalinks and comments, so it’s a blog) asking visitors whether the district should “act to eliminate smoking in indoor workplaces.” As of this morning, with 1,907 votes cast, the results are running 49% “Yes” to 51% “No.” Graham also posted a statement on the proposed smoking ban, saying that he hasn’t taken a position proposed ban, and is torn between the obvious health benefits and the possible consequences of forcing smokers outside and onto the city’s already-crowded sidewalks. So far, the public seems evenly split on the issue, and it doens’t look like the folks at Ban the Ban have heard about the possible return of the ban. If they have, they haven’t updated their blog. We’re guessing that they’ll get right on that, soon.
Commuters may have breathed a sigh of relief upon reading the Examiner headline this morning, “Judge: EPA must clean up D.C. air.” According to the accompanying article, a federal judge has announced intentions to order the Environmental Protection Agency to take action to reduce smog and pollution in the region, after failing to meet deadline set by the Clear Air Act. Judge James Robertson ays he will set a May 3rd deadline for the EPA to do something about the air we all breath. Of course, spokespersons for the EPA claim the agency isn’t dragging its feet, but the Clear Air Act was amended in 1990 to include the metro-D.C. area as one with “serious” are pollution problems stemming from emissions from industrial plants, power plants, and vehicles. If nearly 15 years does’t qualify as dragging your feet, we’re not sure what does.
If the air quality improvements actually come to pass, D.C. residents — especially those with asthma, allergies, or other repiratory problems — can thank the Sierra Club for filing the lawsuit in the first place.
