New Controls on Ozone Emissions

Obama and the Obama administration is expected to unveil a environmental regulation to stop emissions of ozone,  a smog causing pollutant linked to premature death, asthma, and also heart disease.  This regulation would aim at smog causing power plants and factories, particularly the Mid-west and try to shut them down or at least keep smog/pollution to a minimum.  The regulation would lower the current threshold for ozone pollution from 75 parts per billion to a range of 65 to 70 parts per billion in the air and it would in the long run make us a not as polluted nation.  Public health groups have lobbied for years in the fight to reduce ozone emissions and in Obama's second term he finally made a smart decision.  The ozone is not only killing people, but causing tens of millions of people to get sick everyday.  The ozone rules (Clean Air Act) are expected to force the owners of power plants and factories to install expensive technology to clean the pollutants from their smokestacks.  In 2015, the E.P.A. is expected to make final two more historic Clean Air Act rules aimed at stopping planet warming greenhouse gas emissions from coal fired power plants.  Pollution is what is making our climate change and we need to fix it now.  Within the next few year plan to see hundreds of power plants shut down and with that being said the freeze construction of future coal plants.  The standard for ozone was last set in 2008 by the Bush administration at a level of 75 parts per billion, above the range of 60 to 70 parts per billion recommended by the E.P.A.  The E.P.A. had planned to release the new ozone rule in August 2011, but as Republicans and industry groups prepared to go on attack against the plan, Obama had to keep delaying until his second term.