June 9, 1964
PAGE 13112
PROTECTION AND PRESERVATION OF AIR RESOURCES
Mr. METCALF. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that an address by Senator MUSKIE relating to the protection and preservation of our air resources be printed in the RECORD.
Senator MUSKIE has done an outstanding job as chairman of the Special Subcommittee on Air and Water Pollution of the Senate Public Works Committee. He conducted extensive hearings last year and this year on the problems of air pollution and provided the leadership which led to the passage by the Senate of legislation which was subsequently enacted into law and is known as the Clean Air Act. During this year Senator MUSKIE has conducted a series of field hearings to learn more about the problems of air pollution and the techniques used to control air pollution. His address reveals his great knowledge of the subject and I recommend that it be read by each of you.
There being no objection, the address was ordered to be printed in the RECORD, as follows:
ADDRESS BY SENATOR MUSKIE AT METROPOLITAN WASHINGTON AREA CLEANER AIR WEEK LUNCHEON AWARD CEREMONY, MAY 14,1964
It may seem strange to some of you that in the middle of a Senate filibuster a Senator is being called upon to represent the forces of cleaner air. I offer two justifications for my presence: (1) As a native of the State of Maine I know what clean air really is; and (2) as a Member of the Senate hemmed in by the filibuster I appreciate the need for fresh air.
We are celebrating a happy occasion, today, on the achievement of our National Capital Area in the fight for cleaner air. At the same time, the fact that such an occasion is necessary highlights a growing problem which is adversely affecting the health, economic capacity, and quality of living in these United States.
For years men have been aware of the sooty deposits which accompany industrialization and we have been aware of the nuisance of unpleasant odors from manufacturing processes in certain industries. But so long as these side effects of industry and modern technology seemed to be nuisances and no more, we accepted them as one of the necessary drawbacks in our modern civilization.
With the outbreak of sickness and death associated with air pollution, our scientists became concerned that air contaminants could cause harm to man. Now, the Nation is aroused, and there is today a national recognition of the air pollution problem.
In the recent hearing of the Special Subcommittee on Air and Water Pollution of the Senate Committee on Public Works, civic leaders, industrialists, medical doctors, and technicians all agreed that air pollution is a growing menace and that it must be controlled.
Air is life. We all know that we need fresh air every few seconds if we are to live. What we are not always aware of is that air is needed to sustain the kind of world in which we live, but the use of air in heating our homes, running our factories, driving our cars, and burning our wastes discharges pollutants into the air, and results in physical and economic damage to the Nation.
Air pollution is injurious to health. We know, for example, that air pollution cost 4,000 lives in London in December 1952, 340 deaths in the same city 10 years later, 17 lives in Donora, Pa., in October 1948, and 200 lives in New York in November 1953. Untold thousands of Americans have suffered and died as a result of the long-term injurious effects of air pollution.
As the staff report on air pollution, prepared for the Special Subcommittee on Air and Water Pollution, has pointed out: "of much greater overall significance than acute episodes (of air pollution) is a growing body of evidence that long-term, low-level air pollution can contribute to and aggravate certain diseases." We do not know all we want to know about the relationship between certain harmful agents in the air and disease, but we do know enough to establish a connection between various substances in the air and numerous respiratory ailments. These include: (1) the common cold and other upper respiratory tract infections; (2) chronic bronchitis; (3) chronic constrictive ventilatory diseases; (4) pulmonary emphysema; (5) bronchial asthma; and (6) lung cancer. Close correlations have been shown between all of these diseases and the level of air pollution. In addition, there is a close correlation between the size of cities, the amount of air pollution, and the incidence of respiratory disease as a result of air pollution.
There are those who say that not enough is known to justify cleaning up air pollution now. They say we must wait until we have more specific evidence on the connection between air pollution and disease before we insist on cleanup in the air. I say there is no time to wait. We are not experimenting with the mortality of fungus, or of plants, or of mice. We are faced with problems of injury and death to human beings -- to ourselves, to our neighbors, and to our children. This is a national problem, requiring the closest cooperation between the Federal Government, State, interstate, and local agencies. If we place any value on human life, we will act now.
Air pollution is not only a menace to health, it is a source of economic loss in agriculture, in the conservation of fish and wildlife, and in the upkeep of homes and the maintenance of personal property.
Air pollution injures plants and causes hundreds of millions of dollars of losses to our agricultural economy every year. Recent research in plant pathology has demonstrated that the kinds of plants affected and the nature of injury produced vary with the agent. This has made it possible to identify some of the specific pollutants which injure plants and to prove, in some cases, that they have caused damage as far away as 100 miles or more from the point where they originate. Eastern white pine, grapevines, tobacco, spinach, grains, fresh vegetables, and flowers have suffered from air pollution. Livestock have suffered serious adverse effects from airborne fluorides. Corn and peaches are susceptible to hydrogen fluorides.
The annual cost of air pollution damage to property has been estimated at $11 billion for the Nation. Air pollution accelerates deterioration of metals, fabrics, leather, rubber, paint, concrete and building stone, glass, and paper.
For the homeowner air pollution adds to the cost of painting, cleaning of clothing and furniture, and the replacement of many items. For industry, the cost of air pollution is measured in the replacement and protection of precision instruments and other complex control systems which are so important to modern technology.
Travel is affected by air pollution. In at least two recent instances -- one in Pennsylvania and another in Louisiana -- major turnpike crashes were attributed to poor visibility caused by air pollution. Air pollution, aggravated by atmospheric conditions, has increased transportation costs for air carriers. It has been estimated that 15 to 20 air crashes in the United States in 1962 could be attributed to air pollution.
To these health and economic hazards we may add the nuisances of irritated eyes, unsightly haze, soiled clothing and buildings, and unpleasant smells. Air pollution makes life difficult, costly, and unpleasant.
Air pollution is no respecter of persons, property lines, community boundaries or State lines. Subject only to the laws of nature, it moves across the face of the earth in the envelope of air which surrounds and sustains us. Air pollution is local in origin, but its effects are widespread. Only a forceful and coordinated attack on the problem will bring us to a meaningful solution.
Our supply of air is limited. It cannot be increased. The supply of air is fixed as are our supplies of other natural resources such as coal, petroleum, iron ore, uranium, and water. We realize that these are not limitless and must be conserved. We must take the same view of our air resources.
Our population is increasing, and our standard of living is going up. Our industries, homes, and office buildings and motor vehicles take the air, combine it with fuels and return the air polluting compounds to the air. The more we prosper, the more we foul the air we breathe.
Approximately a ton of air is required for every tank full of gasoline used by a motor vehicle. The billion gallons of fuel consumed annually by motor vehicles in the United States use 94 trillion cubic feet -- 640 cubic miles of air.
Other fuels need comparable quantities of air. Burning a ton of coal consumes about 27,000 pounds of air, and a gallon of fuel oil about 90 pounds of air while approximately 18 pounds of air are used in burning a pound of natural gas. About 3,000 cubic miles of air must be provided annually to satisfy the oxygen requirements of the fossil fuels presently used in the United States alone.
If we do not halt the present rate of pollution from all major sources we will be heading down a one-way road to physical and economic disaster.
We are doing something about air pollution. But our efforts have been late in coming and they have been very limited.
One-third of the States have established programs to deal with air pollution. Most of these, however, are quite limited in scope. Local government programs, where they exist, are generally understaffed and without sufficient financial and trained manpower resources to meet their needs. Only 34 local programs have annual budgets exceeding $25,000. Seven of these are in California. Of the other 51 local air pollution control agencies, 21 tried to function on less than $10,000 per year. In the past decade, despite a 30-percent increase in urban population, there has been, outside of California, no overall increase in manpower to combat air pollution at the local level.
Our Federal air pollution program really got underway, in a very limited fashion, in 1955. Last fall, however, after extensive hearings by our subcommittee, Congress enacted a new and improved Clean Air Act which I hope will be a major weapon in our struggle to keep our air free from dangerous pollution. Its passage by overwhelming majorities in both Houses of the Congress with the strong support of the administration is concrete proof that the Federal Government is convinced that air pollution presents a genuine threat to the health and economy of our entire Nation.
The Clean Air Act, which was signed into law by President Johnson on December 17, 1963, is based upon the realization that air pollution is not confined to a single jurisdiction. It is a national problem requiring a national program of research, technical assistance, and support. At the same time, we continue to recognize the primary role of local and State programs to control air pollution.
The Clean Air Act marks the beginning of a renewed Federal recognition of air pollution as a national problem, demanding attention by and support from all American citizens.
The act will not of itself lift the veil of smog which too often conceals the faces of our great cities, but it will in several important ways assist those cities in their struggle for cleaner air.
The act authorizes the U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, for the first time to grant Federal funds to help local, State, and regional air pollution agencies initiate, expand, or improve their programs. It outlines procedures for Federal action to cope with interstate as well as certain intrastate problems; and it expands the research, training, and technical assistance programs the Department has conducted and supported for the last 8 years.
The act singles out for special attention two of the major unsolved air pollution problems, motor vehicle exhaust and high sulfur content fuels. One entire section of the act is devoted to the problem of preventing the discharge of pollutants from automotive vehicles. The Secretary of the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare is directed to appoint a technical committee of representatives from the Department and from the automotive vehicle, exhaust control device, and fuels industries. That committee is charged with evaluating progress in the development of devices and fuels, and with recommending research which would lead to the development of appropriate devices and fuels. The Secretary is further required to report to Congress, at specified periods, on the progress of measures taken toward the resolution of the automotive vehicle and fuels pollution problem.
In its totality, the Clean Air Act reaffirms and gives impetus to the point of view that the solution of the problem can best be reached through the constructive cooperative efforts of all levels of Government, industry, and the public, all of whom contribute to and suffer the consequences of polluted air.
Air pollution is a major domestic problem. But it can be met and solved; if we plan together and work together, with the help and suggestions of interested and alert organizations such as yours, America can win this battle.