Environmental scientist Joel Schwartz took on the task of altering what he sees as a popular misconception Monday night, saying most doom-and-gloom environmental predictions are off the mark.
Opinion polls regarding the environment show that the American public believes air pollution is a serious issue in the United States, said Schwartz, a visiting scholar with the American Enterprise Institute.
But during a special presentation hosted by the UNC Collegians for a Constructive Tomorrow, Schwartz countered this data by saying the levels of "every pollutant we measure have been going down as long as we've been measuring."
He pointed to the fact that of the six substances established by the Clean Air Act as "criteria pollutants," four are just shy of acceptable levels set by the Environmental Protection Agency.
Schwartz went on to say that the environmental policies already in place will maintain and improve environmental conditions.
"Air pollution will continue to decline, even if we do nothing new," he said.
Schwartz claimed that misrepresentations by environmental organizations obscure the truth about air pollution in America.
As an example, he cited the American Lung Association, which states that ozone levels in San Diego County exceed current standards set by the EPA.
Schwartz said the county is classified as violating the standards solely because one of its towns doesn't comply. The higher ozone levels of one town with a population of 13,000 cause an entire county of 3 million to be labeled as unhealthy, he said.
