Posted on Fri, Dec. 16, 2005
Lexington Herald-Leader

Breathtaking move

Anne Northup opposes clean air

The Associated Press reported this week that Jefferson County, where Louisville is located, has some of the most seriously polluted air in the nation.

In an analysis of government data on industrial air polllution, the AP found that 108 census tracts -- each one square kilometer -- in the county rank in the top 5 percent nationally for health risks from industrial pollution.

That news is deplorable but even worse is that U.S. Rep. Anne Northup, who was elected to represent all the people who live in that filthy air, is fighting Louisville's efforts to make it cleaner.

The city, recognizing health and economic problems that arise from polluted air, in June adopted tougher environmental regulations than those imposed by the federal Environmental Protection Agency.

The Louisville-Courier Journal reported last month that a Northup aide wrote the EPA regional office, asking it to find flaws in the scientific studies the city used in reaching its decision. When the regional office wrote back, saying the studies were valid, Northup's office went up the ladder to Washington, requesting a more critical letter. EPA, unlike some other federal agencies, wasn't willing to change or ignore science to meet ideological goals, and that more critical letter was never sent.

Louisville is right to take tough action to improve its air. Dirty air, in Louisvlle and around the country, is most often found where black, poor, less educated and unemployed people live.

Opponents, like Northup, base their objection on fears that employers will shut down rather than meet the new requirements, an old and false argument. Even if that fear had merit, it is clearly not the people who breathe the most toxic air day after day who are reaping the economic benefits.

But that fearful argument is just another version of the admonition that we should settle for less -- dirty air, unsafe working conditions, low wages, bad education, the list goes on -- because we can't do any better.

Even in a world of endless spin, it's hard to make that into a persuasive campaign slogan.