Philadelphia Weekly

Did you see the CBS interview? F-bomb us!

With Mayor Nutter appointing a Sustainability Director in July and drafting bike share proposals in August, Philadelphia has received praise from the Green Police all over the country. So it was a shock when the EPA released their average Air Quality indexes for 2008 and found that Philadelphia is 34th among the 50 largest cities.

According to SustainLane, an online sustainability guide, Philadelphia is ranked eighth in overall sustainability, ranking high in every other category. But when it comes to air pollution, we are in trouble.

Its not all our fault. Air pollution often moves with the winds, making it a regional issue. So our location--sitting downwind from No. 39 on the list, NYC--has a lot to do with the problem.

And while it is likely that passing the buck is what got us to No. 34 in the first place, the idea that smog and pollution can travel makes state-wide legislation on issues like emission standards, anti-idling measures and air quality restrictions a part of the argument. While Philadelphia is No. 34 on the list, the Harrisburg suburb of Carlisle -- a popular stop for truckers looking for some rest -- has some of the worst air quality in the nation. Only 4 percent of American communities have it worse.

From school buses to cabs to plain old rush-hour traffic, however, Philly pumps its fair share into the ozone. Working to combat the amount of city diesel waste is Philadelphia Diesel Difference, a working group of concerned citizens and business owners working in conjunction with the Pennsylvania Clean Air Council, the EPA and the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.

PDD spent the summer petitioning grants from various government entities to retrofit fleets of city vehicles with Diesel Oxidation Catalysts -- essentially, air pollution filters. The retrofits will be hitting 77 firetrucks and a fleet of waste haulers at Tioga terminal. Without the filters, hese vehicles travel all around the city at extremely low mileage, spurting hot, black ash into the skyline.

"We were really happy about this program," says PDD spokesperson Alison Reilly. "These are first responders who often have to breathe in a lot of pollution in their line of work."

The PDD are big proponents of biodiesel. In fact, 110 waste haulers in the city currently run on an 80 percent diesel, 20 percent biofuel mixture. But that is nothing compared with what they have in store.

This week, the EPA announced another grant for PDD to switch several city vehicles to natural gas, a completely clean burning fuel that has become the alternative energy of the moment for cars and trucks. Pending testing and reliance standards, the hope is that all city vehicles will be able to run on the stuff in the not-too-distant future.

But even with all these precautions, the air in the city may still be unsafe if you have a lung condition like asthma or something more serious. AirNow is a program designed by the EPA to localize your air quality forecast so you know what kind of atmospheric attack you can expect.

"The pollution levels day to day are driven primarily by the weather," says Bill Ryan, Air Quality Forecaster for the Philadelphia Metropolitan area. "Cars on the road and other industrial polluters put out about the same amount of emissions day to day, but if the weather changes, the pollutants can accumulate."

These high pollution days are called "Action Days" and AirNow has been working to get the word out to people who may be affected. AirNow's website provides daily air quality forecasts and sends e-mails to businesses and news outlets on action days.

The EPA recommends that if you are going to go out on an action day that you avoid strenuous physical activity. If you are going to run, do it away from major roadways and try not to use your car to avoid adding more pollution.

Its not just those evil smokestacks on the horizon or some huge truck at a rest stop far away that causes pollution. You can do your part by never idling your car engine in the driveway or outside waiting for a loved one in the store. With air pollution, the simplest answer is often the right one. By turning off our engines more often, we can make the air above Philadelphia as clean and green as the ground below.