New Study: Reducing Smog Brings More Health Benefits

In the same Washington Post article on the monkey business surrounding the new PM pollution standard comes news of a new study that concludes cutting smog pollution could bring added health care benefits that haven't been accurately estimated in the past.

Researchers at the University of California at Santa Barbara and MIT examined data for five years between 2003 and 2008 from the 20 Eastern states and the District of Columbia where power plants and boilers are required to limit nitrogen oxide pollution between May 1 and Sept. 30 each year – in other words,  "oozne season."

During this time, they found prescription drug expenditures dropped by 1.9 percent, or $900 million a year, and the states and DC had 2,200 fewer annual premature deaths among individuals aged 75 or older.

“This is now new evidence of the evidence of the health benefits of ozone reductions, which was not available when the president overturned the previous effort to revise the ozone standard,” said MIT economist Michael Greenstone, who has informed White House officials of his findings.