Premature Death Linked to Smog Exposure in Medical Study

A study published today in the New England Journal of Medicine found that long-term exposure to concentrated smog significantly raises the risk of dying from lung disease. The study found that the risk of dying from a respiratory disease is 3 times higher in metropolitan areas with the most concentrated ozone -- a precursor of smog -- than in those with the lowest ozone concentrations.

According to a statement from New York University's Langone Medical Center, this is the first nationwide study to evaluate the long-term effects of ozone exposure on human health. It is also the first to separate the the effects of ozone pollution from those of fine particle pollution (soot).

Co-author of the study, George Thurston:

"Many studies have shown that a high ozone day leads to an increase in risk of acute health effects the next day, for example, asthma attacks and heart attacks."

Thurston also said that the EPA's current standards for airborne ozone do not protect against the long-term effects of ozone exposure:

"It seems clear that even in cities that are approaching meeting the existing standard, you still have a substantial risk from the cumulative long-term exposure that's not addressed by the acute standard."

The Obama administration called for the stalling of a pending court case over the EPA's current smog standards to give the agency more time to decide on revising the controversial Bush-era air quality standards.

President of advocacy group Clean Air Watch Frank O'Donnell agrees that standards need to be stricter:

"There's certainly a great weight of evidence to document that tougher ozone standards are needed."

Stimulus Package Aims to Revive Renewable-Energy

For years now the only way for the clean energy sector to compete with more traditional forms of energy, was through tax breaks. These tax breaks helped fee up cash, allowing companies to operate off of lower profit margins and receiving loans from lenders based on estimated growth.

With the economic downturn over the past year and the failure of the banking industry, tax breaks and loans are not what they used to be. This has lead to a halt in the industry. But, no need to fear, Obama is hear (sarcasm somewhat noted).

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act will invest nearly $79 billion in renewable energy, energy efficiency and green transportation, according to a finally tally of the legislation by the nonprofit Environment California.

As a result residential solar firms like SolarCity, for example, will end their hiring freezes soon and will be adding 16 additional crews over the next few months.

The hope is that this will help the industry enough to attract investors once again, who are always happy to get tax credits and to help out the environment.

Notable provisions of the recovery act include $5 billion for weatherization fo more than 1 million homes, $8 billion for new high-speed rail systems, $4.5 billion for energy upgrades to federal buildings and $4.5 billion in federal matching funds to upgrade the nation's creeky energy grid.

The key for this industry now is to keep the momentum going forward after the stimulus has helped to push it along. While some green enthusiasts wanted more, this should be enough to make most feel ok. I think it's a safe bet that if they want more, results will need to be shown.

After all, finding and improving renewable energy alternatives is not only an environmental issue but also a way to rid ourselves of oil dependency with foreign nations.