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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Joseph F. Hubel who wrote (53224)	10/27/2000 12:37:37 PM
From: ColtonGang	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 769667

Houston smog problem drifts into national attention Associated Press HOUSTON (AP) - The city's dubious reputation as the nation's reigning smog capital isn't about to change this year, with readings that beat former ozone pollution powerhouse Los Angeles and continue to call into question one of Texas Gov. George W. Bush's presidential campaign claims. A key Bush appointee, along with government and university analysts, say this year's readings show Houston's problem with ozone, smog's main ingredient, is staying about the same, as in the past several years. That's despite claims, including Bush's televised comments, that air quality in the nation's fourth largest city is "getting better." Bush spokeswoman Linda Edwards told the Houston Chronicle in Thursday's editions that the metropolitan area's number of violation days "is actually down 30 percent since 1995" - which was Bush's first year as governor. Last year, Houston replaced Los Angeles as the city reporting the most days in violation of federal smog standards. This year, Houston has recorded 44 days with at least one reading above the national health standard for ozone, versus 40 days in Los Angeles, which was tops in ozone until 1999. Analysts at the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission and in Houston told the newspaper that this year's ozone readings continue to show no clear evidence of improvement or deterioration. A "flattening" in the area's trend lines has occurred, said TNRCC Commissioner Ralph Marquez, a former chemical industry official appointed by Bush. "It's not surprising that we're not seeing any improvement as of today," he said, because Houston is growing and sweeping pollution reductions planned by the TNRCC have not gone into effect yet. Ozone levels in Houston exhibited "a definite downward trend in the 1980s and into the early '90s," but "from 1994 on, the statistics look pretty flat to me," said Bryan Lambeth, the TNRCC's senior meteorologist. This year, Los Angeles officials expect no more ozone-conducive weather, while Houston sometimes records high ozone levels after October because of its Gulf climate. Ozone forms when pollutants mix in sunlight. "It looks like we've leveled off and don't see any improvement," said Rob Barrett, Harris County's pollution control director. Rice University expert Matt Fraser said, "We haven't seen a lot of progress lately, if any." Vice President Al Gore has often cited Houston's ozone status in criticizing Bush's environmental record. Gore has also criticized Bush's two-year advocacy of voluntary cleanup measures by older industrial plants, long exempt from state emission permits. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------