First Things First: Emissions & Sustainability

Webster’s defines sustainability as the ability to use something without it being completely used up or destroyed. It is the ability to last longer and continue on for as long as possible. Understanding that ultimately sustainability is necessary to our own existence, the EcoPol Project strives to create an informed, environmentally conscious community.

The name “EcoPol Project,” represents our group’s shared belief that private households and civic leadership are both necessary for the progress of global sustainability. Therefore, our ultimate goal is to create policy change through government legislation inspired by an educated and consistently thriving public involvement.

That’s where this blog comes in. To achieve a sustainable world, we will begin by narrowing down the broad challenge of reaching total sustainability by focusing on a single aspect of it. We will arrange information via this blog to propose solutions to sustainable dangers. It will be our hope that an informed public would then voice their concerns to those in government capable of implementing policy change.

According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency, emissions is the term used to describe the gases and particles which are put into the air or emitted by various sources. Their main concern is with emissions that are or could be harmful to people naming them "criteria pollutants.

1.     carbon monoxide (CO)

         2.     lead (Pb)

         3.     nitrogen dioxide(NO2)

4.     ozone (O3)

5.     particulate matter (PM)

6.     sulfur dioxide (SO2)

Emission sources of criteria pollutants have been grouped into four categories:

1.     Point sources include things like factories and electric power plants.

2.     Mobile sources include cars and trucks, of course, but also lawn mowers, airplanes and anything else that moves and puts pollution into the air.

3.     Biogenic sources are natural sources like plants or trees.

4.     Area sources refers to any given area or region.

The amounts of emissions change every year. These changes are caused by changes in the nation's economy, industrial activity, technology improvements, traffic, and natural causes. 

The National Air Pollutant Emission Trends report summarizes long-term trends in emissions of air pollutants and gives in-depth analysis of emissions for the current year. This is a good place to start looking at statistics and trends.

As a group, the EcoPol Project will be focused on exploring the causes, understanding the impact, and proposing solutions to reduce the harmful effects of emissions in our world.

More Info:

http://www.epa.gov/oaqps001/emissns.html