Objective: 8-3 Improve the Nation's air quality by increasing the use of cleaner alternative fuels.
Sub-objective: there are no sub-objectives under this objective
Progress Quotient Chart
Under the Progress Quotient Chart for Focus Area 8: Environmental Health, it is stated that there has been an 8% improvement towards Objective 8-3 to improve air quality via cleaner alternative fuels. Compared to some other objectives, an 8% improvement was not too bad. Some objectives had already been met, such as poor sanitation and waste water services. However, others such as waterborne disease outbreaks and alternate modes of transportation have reverted away from their target. This shows that while some areas of environmental health are greatly improving, there is still a long way to go. The target for Objective 8-3 is to increase it ten-fold.
Progress
There was not much information about the progress of Objective 8-3. However, as stated earlier, it was one of the objectives that moved toward its target, achieving an 8% improvement.
Disparities
Data was unavailable for cleaner alternative fuels under disparities.
Opportunities and Challenges
One of the challenges of all air quality issues is determining the sources of harmful emissions and implementing effective programs to help reduce key air pollutants. Another challenge is figuring out how to target large groups such as power plants or motor vehicles that are responsible for some of these air pollutants. A final challenge presented is linking improvements in outdoor air quality with improvements in the health of individuals. However, there is some hope. The EPA will focus on market-based programs to encourage the use of cleaner alternative fuels. They hope to improve these objectives by continuing to track progress and develop new strategies. As far as linking air quality to health, that still remains a huge challenge.
Emerging Issues
The main issues surrounding this objective deal with data collection and data accuracy. Monitoring air conditions can be very difficult especially in certain countries that do not have monitoring stations set up. Another factor that can effect the data is the annual weather patterns. Since weather greatly varies, some statistics are not very accurate. The page also pointed out that even though pollutants per mile have been cut down, that this has been offset a bit by the amount of miles being driven. This makes me wonder where the 8% improvement comes from and how much it is offset.
THOMAS: S.1408 New Alternative Transportation to Give Americans Solutions
Title: New Alternative Transportation to Give Americans Solutions
Sponsor: Sen Mendez, Robert [NJ] (Introduced 7/8/2009)
Cosponsors: Sen Begich, Mark [AK] - 1/28/2010
Sen Coburn, Tom [OK] - 10/14/2009
Sen Hatch, Orrin G. [UT] - 7/8/2009
Sen LeMieux, George S. [FL] - 3/17/2010
Sen Murkowski, Lisa [AK] - 7/21/2009
Sen Reid, Harry [NV] - 7/8/2009
Sen Udall, Mark [CO] - 10/5/2009
Sen Hatch, Orrin G. [UT] - 7/8/2009
Sen LeMieux, George S. [FL] - 3/17/2010
Sen Murkowski, Lisa [AK] - 7/21/2009
Sen Reid, Harry [NV] - 7/8/2009
Sen Udall, Mark [CO] - 10/5/2009
Latest Major Action: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance (7/8/2009)
Recommendation: Vote YES for S.1408 New Alternative Transportation to Give Americans Solutions.
My political representatives:
Al Franken - Democrat St. Paul Office
60 East Plato Blvd Suite 220
Saint Paul, MN 55107
(651) 221-1016
Amy Klobuchar - Democrat
302 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
(202) 224-3244
Al Franken - Democrat St. Paul Office
60 East Plato Blvd Suite 220
Saint Paul, MN 55107
(651) 221-1016
Amy Klobuchar - Democrat
302 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
(202) 224-3244
This is definitely an important issue! It's exciting to see there are so many politicians sponsoring this bill!
ReplyDeleteThis is such an important issue but I feel it would be hard to regulate. As you stated above it would be hard to regulate how much people drive. If people could start to car pool or take buses it would help cut back on emissions leaked from cars. There are many ways to become more eco-friendly it is just about taking the time to realize there are alternative options.
ReplyDeleteI think this issue is a battle of personal choice. Above you state that it would be hard to regulate how many people drive, this is so true! Even though it's smart, effecient and good for our environment to take the bus or car pool, it's people's personal choice that determines whether they will do it or not, which is hard to overcome.
ReplyDeleteThis really is an important issue in our country. Unfortunately, it seems to be one of those issues where we all recognize that changes should be made yet are unwilling to change ourselves. Driving less, carpooling more, and using public or alternative transportation are all realistic options to reduce auto emissions, yet many of us are unwilling to cut back. I'm glad to see there are so many supporters of this cause
ReplyDeleteI think I see a recurring theme with some of these Bills and Acts that are trying to get passed: the manufaturers are in charge of giving accurate data of omissions and such, and often times the data is fudged. But this is really a great topic to focus on and obviously needs to be focused on more if we've only come 8% so far and I'm pretty sure that 2010 is coming to a close here.
ReplyDeleteKristen, great goal/bill idea. This proposal goes hand in hand on what we've been discussing throughout the semester. Emily is right when she stated that we do in fact know that it's bad yet we don't change anything about it. However, if more people are aware of the true damages air pollution causes then maybe things will take a step in the right direction. Using alternative modes of transportation and carpooling would definitely be good ideas but it's up to us to make those choices and frankly some people just don't care, which is sad but true. Great goal/bill choice though. Nice post.
ReplyDelete