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Air Quality: A Guide to the Issues

pollution Prepared by staff of the Dallas Public Library's Urban Information Center.

Initially created to assist a local school preparing to debate the pros and cons of government involvement in air quality control, this page may be useful, generally, to those interested in air quality issues.


1) Starting Points

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2) Books

Making sense of the Clean Air Act requires having some terminology and a framework in mind.  One way to achieve this is to browse some of the following books and online documents.  CQ Electronic Library is another excellent source for gaining background.

For additional resources, search the library's catalog using the subject term, "air pollution".

Online Documents

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3) Law & Regulation

While the Congress makes laws, it is left to the various regulatory agencies to spell out how these laws will be implemented. Federal laws are collected in the United States Code and agency regulations in the Code of Federal Regulations.  State laws are collected in various codes available at Texas Statutes Online.  Texas agency regulations are published in the Texas Administrative Code. City ordinances are contained in the Dallas City Code. All of these are available in printed form at the Dallas Public Library.

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4) Magazines & Journals - Online Databases

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5) Selected Federal Agencies

Different federal agencies have different regulatory responsibilities. For example: the Department of Energy has responsibility for power plants, the Dept. of Transportation deals with so-called "mobile sources" of air pollution and EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) is mandated to address air pollution issues across-the-board. Links to several relevant agencies are provided.

Executive Agencies

State & Regional Agencies 

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6) Opposing Viewpoints

Opponents to clean air regulation often say that such government interventions interfere with free market forces, or they argue that the costs of complying with the regulations outweighs actual benefits to society. Proponents of regulation generally cite human health and well-being and potential damage to the environment as negative effects of air pollution. They also note that short-term business gains are often outweighed by longer-term costs which must be borne by society or by those who live "downstream". The following groups work to educate citizens and policy makers about air quality issues. Being advocacy groups, they tend to frame their positions in ways that support a particular approach or point of view.

Generally supportive of strong clean air regulation

Tend to favor free-market approaches

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7) Miscellaneous

The following tools are useful for visualizing and understanding the impact of air pollution on our area. (We've also included links to a simulation game and a site that provides the daily pollen count.)

Air Quality

 

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