EPA Scientists to Propose More Clean Air, Less Ethanol
Federal EPA scientists want to tighten smog standards, allowing tens of millions of Americans to breathe easier, but clashing with President Bush’s plan to reduce projected gasoline consumption by 20% over 10 years by substituting alternative fuels, mainly smog-causing ethanol, in its place.
Despite Bush’s goal, the EPA scientists will recommend allowing less smog-causing ethanol. The smog is produced mainly when tailpipe and smokestack pollutants react with summer heat, the official said. More than half the nation, or nearly 160 million people, breathe illegal levels of smog.
EPA scientists are due to recommend day a range of options for healthier air. Last year, EPA identified hundreds of the nation’s most populated counties that were polluting the air with too much smog, and ordered them to clean it up.
What the scientists will recommend has stirred up a fair amount of controversy within EPA and could complicate Bush’s push for more ethanol use, said a senior government official speaking on condition of anonymity (because the announcement had not yet been made).