July 21, 2005

Smog too much*

Yesterday I found myself suffering from symptoms of smog poisoning. I had heard many times that living in a polluted environment is like smoking a couple of packs of cigarettes a day, but I had assumed this was some clean-air advocate’s attempt to exaggerate the danger so as to underline the issue’s importance. Until yesterday, that is. Today, I have little doubt about the matter. I felt just like a heavy smoker does, and I don’t even smoke. And it happened just after we had particularly high levels of smog approaching the "dangerous" level for a couple of days in a row. Today I feel much better, but now I am sure this sort of thing has the same long-term effect on me and others as heavy smoking.

There used to be a time, and not so long ago at that, when Toronto had incredibly clean air for a large metropolis. We have more cloudy days than many other places. But the thing was that the cloudy days made you look forward to the clear days when the sun would shine in a beautiful blue sky that extended from one horizon to the other.

Not any longer. These days, there are cloudy smoggy days and clear smoggy days. On some days, in fact, you are not sure which one you are looking at. Even on the clearest days, the sky is a grayish blue, with a band of pure gray around the horizon.

It all happened very gradually. A few years ago, we had our first experience of “smog alerts” issued by the weather people. We thought of it as a passing curiosity. More importantly, we thought it would send a clear warning to government and business that urgent action was needed. But very little was done, and the problem got worse with each passing year. What had begun as smoggy days extended into smoggy weeks. Still, we thought, “Oh well, this is just some problem associated with summer heat waves.” Then, last year, during some of the coldest days of winter, we had our first experience of winter smog. We could not believe our eyes, but there it was. I think we experienced something like what scientists feel when they encounter a phenomenon that contradicts every known fact.

The Ontario government has always, more or less, washed its hands of the problem, claiming that most of the air pollution comes from south of the border. Whether or not that is true, and I have my doubts about that, I don’t think it absolves them of the responsibility to do something about it right here in Ontario. And, by the way, one reason I have doubts about their claim is that a couple of days ago the smog blanket covered the entire southern half of Ontario, up to the North Bay area and farther north.

Be that as it may, the Ontario government’s inaction makes me wonder who is going to defend our interests and really do something about this problem, which is killing a large number of people right here in Ontario.

What is the mandate of a government official, as he/she sees it? Is it to fight for the people, so that they will live happier healthier lives, free of unnecessary suffering and exploitation? I don’t think so. Government officials are trained to think first and foremost of promoting business. They think of that as their function. They think greater business activity is synonymous with a better society. Government officials and their associated technocrats think there is a “fix” for every problem, and such fixes always involve awarding a contract to some business or other. Yet the nature of such business activity, as with the capitalist system as a whole, is to exacerbate problems in the long run, rather than to help solve them.

One looks around in vain for anyone who represents the people’s real long-term interests. Even many so-called environmental advocacy groups are in fact business lobbies. There is a well-known Ontario organization, which shall remain nameless, whose professed mandate is to research and advocate regarding issues related to pollution. The reality is that this particular organization’s actual motive is to reduce even further the measly amount of government action regarding this problem, and to advocate for the interests of the polluting industries. With friends like these …


*The name of one of the characters in a Monty Python skit was Smoke-Too-Much.

13 comments:

Immoral Majority said...

I have had asthma since I was about four years old. Here in Chicago, the rate of asthma is among the highest in the world, and it is believed to be possibly the result of pollution from old power plants. Air pollution is clearly a serious problem in cities, but what is Bush's solution? He wants to reduce the emmissions from diesel tractors that are used on farms. That is his plan to reduce air pollution. I can't believe that he didn't get laughed off the stage when he mentioned it in his state of the union speech.

The probligo said...

Heh IM!!! Good one. That has to rank (pune intended) alongside of the suggestion that NZ could make a major contribution to the reduction of global pollution by reducing the methane gas emitted by cows and sheep...

The original proponent of this was one George Gair, Minister of Energy who expressed the idea more as a regret - that the methane could not be captured and used for electricity generation. Newspaper cartoons the next day had George careering around cow paddocks in a 4wd trying to lassoo statled cows and other variations on the same theme.

One recent version had a bunch of young guys with their gas fuelled BBQ running out halfway through cooking their steaks. A brief pursuit with a long length of hose and "Daisy" was hooked up and the BBQ back in service - apart from the occasional flare.

Al S. E. said...

To “Immoral Majority” and “The Probligo”: Very funny stuff. I don’t know what it is about these conservative types that gives them such deep-seated antipathy towards the countryside, including livestock and farm equipment and emissions therefrom. Remember Reagan’s firm belief in the “theory” that trees are the primary source of greenhouse gases?

Inna said...

Have you heard about Mexico city pollution? It's the worst.

Al S. E. said...

Ontario is still (almost) as beautiful as ever, Stephanie (or at least that's what Ontario Tourism would have us believe). Air pollution and smog, though, are relatively new phenomena here, which is why they are still a little scary to us. A related problem is urban sprawl, which has been destroying large areas of Ontario farmland.

Rufus said...

There's actually quite a bit of traffic in Toronto. I live on Parkside Drive and we have busy traffic 24 hours a day. Of course it effects the air. You can't breathe downtown. We're leaving the city.

The probligo said...

Please can someone tell me -

Does Canada / Ontario still use leaded petrol?

Does Canada have any vehicle emission controls?

Just wondering...

Al S. E. said...

The probligo: My understanding is that the use of leaded petrol (what we call "gasoline," as you know) was phased out several years ago, and there are also extensive emission controls. If you are interested in the details, a lot of info is available at government websites such as http://www.ene.gov.on.ca , http://www.ec.gc.ca , and http://www.ec.gc.ca/pdb/npri/npri_home_e.cfm . As usual, I somewhat exaggerated the case for polemical purposes (though I didn't exaggerate the effects on myself). There is actually a lot of work being done by government bodies. More specifically, there are a lot of good people within government who are trying to get some work done. Their efforts, however, are quite frequently thwarted by conservative and pro-business attitudes of their superiors.

The probligo said...

Al, I understand where you are coming from in terms of Toroto and pollution.

Despite the fact that NZ likes to promote its "clean and green" image not all goes that way. One would imagine that a city stuck on a narrow squeak of land between two major oceans and open to every little draught that zephyrs past would not have a pollution problem. Well I can sit in the traffic on my way towork in a morning and look out over the central isthmus area and not be able to see into the brown haze. We are not a "BIG" city, some 1.4 million in the region (of four cities).

NZ also has very high asthma and related health problems, but they are not restricted to the major cities. What is being shown in recent research (released within the last month or so) is a possible correlation between lifestyle and immunity based diseases. The connect (as I understand it) is between T1 immunity and T2 immunity. If I get it right the first is the primary system; defence against external bugs, bacteria, viruses etc. The T2 system is that which controls internal immunity processes - cancers, autoimmune processes, that kind of thing.

The connect is that in people with asthma the T1 immunity system is weaker than the T2. People without asthma have the T1 immunity stronger.

The T1 system develops during the first 10 years of life, so the cure for asthma could be as simple as letting the kids get dirty, eat some of the garden, a few worms, try the odd roach... you get the picture...

A said...

Interesting, Probligo. One of history's most famous asthmatics was Marcel Proust. I suppose his upper middle class and upwardly mobile parents would never have dreamt of letting little Marcel get dirty or, God forbid, eat small fauna.

Rush Murad said...

Im suffering from asthma, but so lucky that I live in Malaysia. Greeneries still abundance around us. Im waiting for your comment on the Egypt's bombing. Any writting on that issue?
Hv a great day, and happy weekend.

Malaysian

Al S. E. said...

Thanks Rush Murad for your comments, and I am glad that your environment helps your condition. I would like to ask you to read all of the posts and comments in this blog (or at least as many of them as you find interesting). After reading them, you will see that I have only one interest in this blog, which is political analysis. I define "political analysis" as analysis of issues from the point of view of the class struggle and the conflict between opposing forces in society. I write posts only when I feel I can make some worthwhile or interesting contribution to the analyis of issues from the angle of class conflict, because that is how I see the world.

indilove said...

holler frm singapore.

enlightened after reading some issues. some of the stuff you say, lol you cldget arrested if you say tt in singapore. you're lucky freedom of speech is allowed in ur country. back in ours its merely a farcical facade.