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| Home Front: Politix |
| $10 Million Choice |
| 2008-06-17 |
| Wichita residents may soon be asked to gas up their cars at night and use electric lawn mowers to reduce smog levels. The Wichita City Council will be asked Tuesday to endorse a plan that would encourage area residents to clean up their air before the Environmental Protection Agency steps in and does it for them. Kay Johnson, the city's director of Environmental Services, said she hopes the proposed resolution will result in a public education program that cuts significantly into the city's ozone levels. If the city fails to comply with recently tightened EPA ozone standards, she said, every resident and business in Sedgwick, Butler, Harvey and Sumner counties could be forced to live with new pollution-control measures. The estimated cost of not complying, she said, is $10 million a year. The Kansas Department of Health and Environment has scheduled a June 26 meeting in Wichita to brief local officials and other interested parties about how they can develop a plan to improve the city's air quality. If the City Council agrees, Johnson said, the public education campaign will include public service announcements that encourage residents to make modest lifestyle changes -- such as mowing lawns and gassing up cars after 6 p.m., when ozone levels are lowest. 'The easy things have already been done,' she said. Johnson also said residents can help keep ozone levels in check by tuning up their cars and turning them off while waiting for passing trains. They also can help by using electric lawn mowers and trimmers instead of gas-powered equipment. I was just joking with a friend of mine about how personal water features could be considered bird sanctuaries up north, and then this comes out in the news this morning and follows a decision by Wichita to not switch to hybrid city vehicles because 'by the time they would start to pay off the city would be forced to get rid of them' -EPA gone wild- Wichita is not one of those places where you see the skyline from 60 miles out, also notice that it is not increased pollution but a decrease in the EPA standard. With the right wind especially in summer the winds would carry air from OKC and Dallas. Also there is a rather large AFB and aircraft manufacturing base - I guess those could be shut down and then they really would not have to worry about pollution from Wichita. As one commenter put it, 'I can't afford my government helping me!' |
| Posted by:swksvolFF |
| #1 but C-Thug won't hav to lissen to da man! |
| Posted by: Frank G 2008-06-17 20:42 |