EPA Sets Lower Sulfur Levels of Gasoline to Fight Smog

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is releasing new rules on Monday which will reduce the current sulfur level in gasoline by two-thirds. The changes were made to fight smog emitted by automobiles which threatens public health.

Major contributors of smog in the United States include chemical plants and oil refineries, utility plants, and mobile sources such as automobiles, trucks, trains, and airplanes. Mobile sources account for 21 percent of the total smog based on the agency's National Toxin Inventory.

Researchers attribute the growing problem of smog on the number of automobiles in the country which has grown by 300 percent since the 1970s, according to a report by the Stanford University. In fact, 60 percent of the pollution in California is from automobiles.

The U.S government has been working to maintain air cleanliness thus passing the Clean Air Act in 1990 which listed 188 chemicals as hazardous air pollutants due to environmental and public health implications. One of these chemicals is Sulfur dioxide which when mixed with smog can be damaging to the health of both humans and animals.

The EPA announced that they will be lowering the sulfur levels of gasoline 10 parts from the original 30 parts. Additionally, it will also set limits on tailpipe emissions.

This is the most significant move to protect public health that the EPA will make this year," said Frank O'Donnell, president of Clean Air Watch, to Chicago Tribune. "There is literally no more effective tool to fight smog. Every American will breathe easier because of these standards."

Environmentalist groups are happy that the government is finally prioritizing public health over businesses that are against the sulfur reduction. Oil companies argued that it will increase their production costs because cleaner gasoline is more expensive to produce which can cause them approximately $12 billion.

It seems that the U.S government has taken queue from the air pollution happening in Beijing, China which has reached "its most unbearable stage." The World Health Organization (WHO) already advised residents to lock indoors to avoid catching respiratory diseases and the national government cramming to reduce coal use.

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