What is the Cash for Clunkers program and how will that help our ozone problem?
In July 2009, President Barak Obama signed into law a program that helps you purchase a new, more fuel- efficient vehicle when you trade in a less fuel-efficient vehicle. Some refer to the program as Cash for Clunkers. If old cars are replaced with newer, more fuel-efficient cars, that helps our air quality. Q: If our air is cleaner, why do we still not meet the Environmental Protection Agency’s air quality standards? A: The EPA keeps tightening the standards because scientists and medical professionals find that health problems associated with ground-level ozone are not abating sufficiently. Back when the standard was 120 ppb (parts per billion), they determined that it was still affecting people’s health so it was lowered again. They determined that the public is still getting health problems with the 1997 level of 84 ppb, so the EPA lowered the ozone standard to 75 ppb in 2008. Q: The Greater Charlotte area (Rowan, Cabarrus, Mecklenburg, Lincoln, Gastonia, Union and part of Iredell)
