Opinion: Air quality will never improve if we wait on politicians to do it
The air quality here in Des Moines recently hit the “very unhealthy” level, purple on the AirNow.gov monitoring site. This poor air quality is especially harmful for older people and medically vulnerable people, including many people who have had COVID-19. Because poorer health outcomes tend to worsen people's economic prospects, and because lower-income people generally have poorer health outcomes, this bad air will especially harm lower-income Iowans.
More: Iowa hit with 'unprecedented' air quality as haze from Canadian wildfires blankets state
Anyone who follows the national news will know that other parts of the country have recently suffered smoke problems similar to ours here in Iowa. News reports on this dangerous air have been using the phrase “Canadian wildfires,” while misleads by being partially true. The phrase is like a magician waving a wand to influence where the audience’s attention is, and where it isn’t. A news media focused on informing the public would minimize use of the phrase. Of course, there are big fires in Canada right now, these are record-setting fires and we are still early in fire season. My point is that where the smoke blew here from doesn’t explain much that matters. What’s far more important is why there is so much smoke in the air. The reason why is planet-heating pollution, which we often call global climate change.
The connection between pollution and wildfires is not complicated: Emissions lead to hotter, drier summers. Hotter, drier forests burn more easily. And so we have more fires. If emissions continue to increase, the planet will keep heating, and we will have more wildfires of this kind. They are not a Canadian problem, they are a global humanity problem, caused by pollution. Despite this, the Biden administration keeps approving new fossil fuel projects. These projects amount to pouring gas on the fire. They will cause more pollution and more heating of our planet.
Iowa-produced ethanol is a part of the problem as well. Despite the labels on the pump at gas stations, ethanol does not promote cleaner air. Ethanol turns corn into a source of air pollution, and there is a lot of corn in Iowa. Ethanol causes more ozone emission in particular. Ozone is more easily created in the summer, which is why for years sales of higher ethanol fuels were restricted in summer, but the Biden administration has walked back those regulations. The results are dirtier air and more planetary heating. It is no surprise that we have had an especially bad year for ozone emissions this year as well.
Anyone waiting for state or national politicians to act out of genuine, principled concern for our health will be waiting a long time. Wealthy companies and powerful politicians simply do not have the health and well-being of ordinary people as a high priority, whatever they might say. Historically, ordinary people have only ever been able to make our interests matter to the powerful through the pressure of large-scale protests.
We should all bear this in mind when in the near future we are once again asked to vote and donate to politicians competing for the job of telling us to be patient, of redirecting our attention with words like “Canadian wildfires,” and of getting us to think that the unhealthy muck we are forced to breathe is normal. It’s not normal, it’s an outrage. Unless a protest movement forces a very rapid reduction in carbon emissions, however, this will become normal, and many people will live shorter, more painful lives from spending more days breathing in unhealthy air.
Nate Holdren is the author of the prize-winning book "Injury Impoverished" and teaches in the Program in Law, Politics, and Society at Drake University.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Opinion: Air quality won't improve if we wait on politicians to do it
