How Cities around the World Combat Air Pollution

Introduction
Air pollution is a significant problem for major urban areas in the modern world thanks to the dependency the burning of fossil fuels for energy. From carbon dioxide emissions released by cars in cities to pollution from coal burning power plants, cities from Los Angeles to Paris to London to Berlin to Beijing face enormous hurdles in addressing this problem—not the least being how to implement various business laws that will help to effectively curb pollution in these cities. This paper will discuss how different cities around the world combat air pollution and what business laws have been applied in their countries with respect to reducing air pollution.
Air Pollution
The problem of air pollution is based on the fact that it is harmful both for the environment and for humans. As the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) under the guidance of the World Health Organization (WHO) has shown, air pollution is a leading “cancer-causing agent” in the industrialized world.[footnoteRef:2] The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the U.S. has shown that air pollution is responsible for acid rain, eutrophication, haze, ozone depletion, crop and forest damage and global climate change.[footnoteRef:3] With so much pollution coming from industries engaged in manufacturing and in energy production, governments around the world are faced with decisions about regulating these businesses in order to reduce air pollution and allowing businesses to regulate themselves (for fear of too much cost being a detriment). [2: S. Simon, “World Health Organization: Outdoor Air Pollution Causes Cancer,” 2013. http://www.cancer.org/cancer/news/world-health-organization-outdoor-air-pollution-causes-cancer] [3: Department of Environmental Protection. “Health and environmental effects of air pollution,” 2015. http://www.mass.gov/eea/docs/dep/air/aq/health-and-env-effects-air-pollutions.pdf]

While air pollution is not solely an effect of industrialization and urbanization (the number one emitter of carbon dioxide in the world actually comes from cows)[footnoteRef:4], cities around the globe do contribute substantially to the amount of air pollution in the atmosphere. That is why the Paris Climate Accord was signed by so many nations in 2016: 195 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) members signed the Accord in order to promote a consensus approach around the world for addressing the problems of air pollution in the most polluted major urban areas of member countries.[footnoteRef:5] [4: Geoffrey Lean, “Cow emissions more damaging to planet than CO2 from cars,” Independent, 2006. https://www.independent.co.uk/environment/climate-change/cow-emissions-more-damaging-to-planet-than-co2-from-cars-427843.html] [5: Sutter, John D.; Berlinger, Joshua, "Final draft of climate deal formally accepted in Paris". CNN, 2015. https://www.cnn.com/2015/12/12/world/global-climate-change-conference-vote/]

From Country to Country and City to City
From country to country and city to city, there are specific national and local laws in place to address the issue of air pollution. In America, the EPA is tasked with combating air pollution under the Clean Air Act of 1963. Emissions regulations on car manufacturers began to be an issue for manufacturers in the U.S. following the Clean Air Act of 1963. This Act established within the federal government a process of examining air pollution and ways to reduce it. In 1970, the Act was amended to include regulations for auto manufacturing businesses. In that same year, the EPA came into existence as part of an effort to provide oversight and enforcement of the Clean Air Act’s regulations.[footnoteRef:6] Two decades later, emissions controls and regulations were in place across the U.S. to ensure that manufacturers were building vehicles so as to keep carbon emissions to a minimum. Statewide testing of vehicles became a norm for a number of years in many states that wished to conform to federal guidelines. These tests were, however, not cost effective in the long run and several states ultimately abolished them altogether—though that depended on the state. In California, for instance, cities like Los Angeles are still subject to emissions testing. But in states like Kentucky, where it was reported that 97% of cars passed emissions inspection, and nearly 100% of new cars passed, many consumers complained that the testing was unnecessary and costly: “Motorists with non-polluting cars paid $1.9 million in fees” just to have it confirmed for them that their cars were, in fact, up to federal standards.[footnoteRef:7] [6: EPA History, 2016. https://www.epa.gov/aboutepa/epa-history] [7: Kentucky Dumps Emission Testing, 2005]

Some cities are doing more than just focusing on car emissions to combat air pollution. Los Angeles is a good example: “Much of the improvements in air pollution levels in Los Angeles during the last few years can be credited to the South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD), an agency which has enforced consistently stricter air quality standards for the region’s 17 million people over nearly 20 years.”[footnoteRef:8]  Los Angeles has also put pressure on businesses to clean up their operations through the “Clean Up Green Up” program, which places restrictions on businesses in various districts with regard to development, such as landscaping regulations and buffer zones between business operations and residences. L.A. has also taken measures to obtain all of the city’s energy from renewable energy sources, like solar and wind power. While roughly half of the city’s energy still comes from the burning of fossil fuels, the city is heading towards clamping down on this source and eliminating it altogether. L.A. is also focused on enforcing tighter regulations on the Port of Los Angeles, which is identified as the “single largest source of air pollution in Southern California, due to the volume of diesel trucks and ships that move through it.”[footnoteRef:9] Every car and truck sold in the United States must comply with emissions regulations set forth by the Environmental Protection Agency.[footnoteRef:10] This is similarly the case in London and in cities across Europe—however, these cities routinely fail to abide by EU regulations.[footnoteRef:11] In Los Angeles, the Clean Air Action Plan is being implemented to help cap maritime air pollution. In another major urban area of California—San Francisco—action is being taken as well: “sweeping air pollution control regulations are being proposed in San Francisco’s Bay Area, potentially affecting up to 1,000 businesses across a range of industries to cover pollution from a variety of sources.”[footnoteRef:12] The goal of the legislation is to lower the carbon footprint of businesses in the Bay Area. [8: MySidewalk, “Combatting air pollution in Los Angeles,” 2017. https://blog.mysidewalk.com/combating-pollution-in-los-angeles-how-one-city-is-improving-air-quality-f6f55cf8d711] [9: MySidewalk, “Combatting air pollution in Los Angeles,” 2017. https://blog.mysidewalk.com/combating-pollution-in-los-angeles-how-one-city-is-improving-air-quality-f6f55cf8d711] [10: S. Furth“A new car will cost you at least $3,800 extra because of government regulation.” The Daily Signal, 2016. http://dailysignal.com/2016/03/28/a-new-car-will-cost-you-at-least-3800-extra-because-of-government-regulation/] [11: Richard Phillips, “Air Pollution: The business concern,” Eco-Business, 2017. http://www.eco-business.com/opinion/air-pollution-the-business-concern/] [12: Richard Phillips, “Air Pollution: The business concern,” Eco-Business, 2017. http://www.eco-business.com/opinion/air-pollution-the-business-concern/]

In London, regulations are tightening as well. According to the city’s own directives, the Mayor is budgeting “more than £300 million to transform London’s bus fleet by retrofitting thousands of buses and committing to phase out pure diesel double deck buses from 2018.”[footnoteRef:13] In Paris, a similar measure that focuses on car emissions, with the worst offenders being banned from the streets, has been introduced.[footnoteRef:14] However, in neither London nor in Paris have benchmarks been reached which is why the EU has given warnings to each—though of course London is no longer subject to EU regulation as England is exiting the European Union. [13: Mayor of London, “How we’re cleaning up London’s air,” 2018. https://www.london.gov.uk/what-we-do/environment/pollution-and-air-quality/how-were-cleaning-londons-air] [14: Gary Fuller, “Paris tries something different in the fight against smog,” The Guardian, 2016. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jan/29/paris-fight-against-smog-world-pollutionwatch]

Berlin is in a similar state, having also received warnings about its air pollution levels from the EU.[footnoteRef:15] Unlike in Los Angeles and San Francisco, these European metropolises are behind the curve in terms of regulating businesses and obliging them to implement more effective anti-pollution policies. However, aside from being forced to pay fines, local governments are not enacting tight enough restrictions. Germany’s plan for instance is similar to the London Mayor’s in that it “would see public buses running on diesel fuel be equipped with exhaust-scrubbing systems, more charging points for e-cars, and overall strengthening of e-mobility.”[footnoteRef:16] While this may be seen as a step in the right direction, only targeting cars and not examining the practices of businesses in its cities like Berlin and Warsaw means that the biggest pollutants get a pass—and, indeed, Brussels has expressed exactly that, saying that such bus emissions regulation is “not going to be enough, according to Jens Hilgenberg of Friends of the Earth Germany (BUND).”[footnoteRef:17] [15: Brigitte Osterath, “Germany’s air pollution: Clean up or pay up,” DW, 2018. http://www.dw.com/en/germanys-air-pollution-clean-up-or-pay-up/a-42351552] [16: Brigitte Osterath, “Germany’s air pollution: Clean up or pay up,” DW, 2018. http://www.dw.com/en/germanys-air-pollution-clean-up-or-pay-up/a-42351552] [17: Brigitte Osterath, “Germany’s air pollution: Clean up or pay up,” DW, 2018. http://www.dw.com/en/germanys-air-pollution-clean-up-or-pay-up/a-42351552]

Were Germany to actually crack down on its auto manufacturing businesses (an industry that is among the largest in the world), some improvement might actually be seen. Indeed, Germany has “the largest automaker industry, and they also certify most of the cars for the EU market. They have the power to actually change something,” according to Julia Poliscanova, manager of clean vehicles and air quality with the Brussels-based nongovernmental organization Transport & Environment.[footnoteRef:18] Were Germany to introduce business laws that would place tight pollution restrictions on the automobile industry, the air pollution problem in cities not only in Germany but across the entire EU where so many German cars are sold would be eliminated very quickly. The problem is that such regulations are expensive to businesses—and for companies like Volkswagen, which recently came under fire in the U.S. for cheating at emissions standards testing, avoiding such costly regulations and changes in manufacturing that they would entail is something that they all seek to do. [18: Brigitte Osterath, “Germany’s air pollution: Clean up or pay up,” DW, 2018. http://www.dw.com/en/germanys-air-pollution-clean-up-or-pay-up/a-42351552]

Even in the East, for example, in Beijing, which is among the worst offending cities in the world with its poor air quality and high level of air pollution, there is not much being done to address the issue of air pollution from a business perspective. While many countries signed on to the Paris Climate Accord, this action appears to have been more a symbol—a demonstration of politically correct posturing. The reality is that few governments actually want to initiate laws and regulations that will crack down on businesses for fear those businesses will retaliate in some way. Most administrators in government are less powerful than the large corporations that have been existence for decades and that have considerable muscle to flex in terms of seeing that no policies are implemented that go against their bottom lines. The state of California is different from most states in the world in that it has long held an eco-friendly position and its regulations are constantly targeting businesses to ensure that air pollution is kept to a minimum. For a city like Beijing, more efforts could be made. Regulation is loosely enforced and the city’s major source of energy comes from a nearby coal-burning plant.[footnoteRef:19] However, China is taking action against its manufacturing industries responsible for the country’s high levels of air pollution: it is taking action by closing many of their plants. For instance, “in March the national government announced the closure or cancellation of 103 coal-fired power plants, capable of generating a total of more than 50 gigawatts of power. It said it would also cut steel production capacity by another 50 million tons.”[footnoteRef:20] China’s regulators intend to move the energy industry more towards the type of clean energy sources that are in line with the Paris Accord. [19: Leslie Hook, “Beijing pushes to reduce air pollution”, Financial Times, 2012. https://www.ft.com/content/127f250a-d9af-11e1-a18e-00144feab49a] [20: Beth Gardiner, “China air pollution solutions,” National Geographic, 2017. https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2017/05/china-air-pollution-solutions-environment-tangshan/]

Conclusion
Various cities around the world are taking measures to address the issue of air pollution—some with more tenacity than others. Currently, cities on the West Coast of the U.S. show the most promise. Major urban areas like Los Angeles and San Francisco have implemented a number of policies and regulatory acts to crack down on businesses that pollute the air. Other cities like London, Paris, and Berlin in Europe have failed to enact measures at an equal level. The EU has provided regulatory guidelines for cities and issues warnings and fines when cities fail to meet those standards—but the city governments themselves in Europe have so far done little to combat air pollution—other than to apply changes to buses to limit emissions and banned certain vehicles from roads, as Paris has done. Germany could do more to crack down on the auto industry to see that car manufacturers conform with the EU guidelines. Likewise in the East, Beijing and the rest of China needs to focus on getting off of fossil-fuel energy as cities in California are currently seeking to do.

Bibliography
Department of Environmental Protection. “Health and environmental effects of
air pollution,” 2015. http://www.mass.gov/eea/docs/dep/air/aq/health-and-env-effects-air-pollutions.pdf
EPA History, 2016. https://www.epa.gov/aboutepa/epa-history
Fuller, Gary. “Paris tries something different in the fight against smog,” The Guardian,
2016. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jan/29/paris-fight-against-smog-world-pollutionwatch
Furth, S. “A new car will cost you at least $3,800 extra because of government
regulation.” The Daily Signal, 2016. http://dailysignal.com/2016/03/28/a-new-car-will-cost-you-at-least-3800-extra-because-of-government-regulation/
Gardiner, Beth. “China air pollution solutions,” National Geographic, 2017.
https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2017/05/china-air-pollution-solutions-environment-tangshan/
Hook, Leslie. “Beijing pushes to reduce air pollution”, Financial Times, 2012.
https://www.ft.com/content/127f250a-d9af-11e1-a18e-00144feab49a
Kentucky Dumps Emission Testing. Cincinnati Enquirer, 2015.
http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/06/678.asp
Mayor of London, “How we’re cleaning up London’s air,” 2018.
https://www.london.gov.uk/what-we-do/environment/pollution-and-air-quality/how-were-cleaning-londons-air
MySidewalk. “Combatting air pollution in Los Angeles,” 2017.
https://blog.mysidewalk.com/combating-pollution-in-los-angeles-how-one-city-is-improving-air-quality-f6f55cf8d711
Osterath, Brigitte. “Germany’s air pollution: Clean up or pay up,” DW, 2018.
http://www.dw.com/en/germanys-air-pollution-clean-up-or-pay-up/a-42351552
Phillips, Richard. “Air Pollution: The business concern,” Eco-Business, 2017.
http://www.eco-business.com/opinion/air-pollution-the-business-concern/
Simon, S. “World Health Organization: Outdoor Air Pollution Causes Cancer,” 2013.
http://www.cancer.org/cancer/news/world-health-organization-outdoor-air-pollution-causes-cancer
Sutter, John D.; Berlinger, Joshua, “Final draft of climate deal formally accepted in
Paris.” CNN, 2015. https://www.cnn.com/2015/12/12/world/global-climate-change-conference-vote/