The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported this past weekend that industry is stridently opposing an EPA recommendation to reduce ozone, often referred to as smog. EPA released the recommendation in a staff paper last July. For a summary, click here.

The staff paper recommends tightening ozone emissions by lowering the allowable limit to 0.07 parts per million (ppm). The current limit is 0.08 ppm, set in 1997.

After EPA submitted the staff paper for public comment, the usual players began blowing the anti-regulatory trumpet. The list of industry organizations opposing the recommendation in comments to EPA reads like a who’s who of environmental thugs: ExxonMobil; the American Petroleum Institute; and the Edison Electric Institute, among others. All the groups similarly attack EPA’s science, but the smear campaign does little to mask their pro-industry agenda.

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) provides one of the few voices of reason in the commentary. Dr. Eileen M. Ouellette, president of the AAP, calls for even tighter restrictions bluntly stating, "The range under consideration for the ozone standard does not protect the health of infants and children."

Environmental and public interest groups, including Clean Air Watch and the American Lung Association, are amplifying the call for tighter regulation. The groups site a recommendation by the EPA's own Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee which called in October for a standard of 0.06-0.07 ppm.

With support from environmental groups, public health groups, and two of its own reports, it is clear EPA should lower the allowable limit for smog. The tighter regulation will protect public health as well as send a message that industry cannot bully the agency.