Smog reduction plans delayed by Trump administration

Russ Zimmer | Asbury Park Press

Show Caption Hide Caption Google's Street View Cars Are Now Tracking Air Pollution Almost half of the world's population, rising to 80 percent of people living in cities, breathe air that is unsafe for humans.

You may soon be able to monitor local air quality from your laptop. Watch the video above for more.

The recent high temperatures put New Jersey under smog warnings — indicating the air was unfit for the very old, very young and those with respiratory conditions — each of the three sweltering days.

Just days before, Gov. Chris Christie and heads of the 49 other states received letters from the U.S. EPA alerting them to a one-year delay in the implementation of new standards on air quality that are meant to curb smog — a lingering scourge to public health in New Jersey.

In October 2015, the Obama Administration lowered the standard for ground-level ozone from 75 parts per billion to 70. This kind of pollution, which mostly comes from cars, can aggravate — and even cause — asthma and other breathing issues.

The stricter benchmark would prevent 230,000 asthma attacks in children by 2025, the EPA stated in 2015.

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However, Trump's EPA fears that adopting the more stringent standards at this time would infringe on the power of local governments to make their own decisions and disproportionately punish businesses.

"I have determined that there is insufficient information, and taking additional time is appropriate in order to consider completely all designation recommendations provided by state governors ... and to rely fully on the most recent air quality data," U.S. EPA administrator Scott Pruitt wrote in the letter.

Environmental and health advocates were aghast, and immediately pledged to sue to keep the original timeline in place. The reduction plans were set to begin in October.

"Delaying this life-saving update to the ozone standard is an attack on America's right to breathe clean, healthy air," reads a statement from the American Lung Association. "It will mean more asthma attacks, missed days of work and school and even premature deaths."

SMOG: Take a breather to consider air quality in NJ

So far this year, there have been six days when New Jersey air has measured above the 70 ppb ozone threshold. Google, as you can see in the video above, has been experimenting with capturing air quality data for use in its Maps application.

Air quality on the Shore is relatively clean, at least when compared with northern New Jersey and pockets surrounding Philadelphia. However, ozone levels tend to spike in Monmouth and Ocean counties as temperatures — and traffic — rise during the summer season.

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Russ Zimmer: 732-557-5748, razimmer@app.com