Ohio Growth Posing Environmental Threats

"Planners and policymakers nationwide, reacting to changes called for to slow a warming climate, are hotly debating whether the relentless outward spread of population necessarily translates into increased air pollution."

"Northeast Ohio has its own specific air pollution concerns."

"The region is already under federal mandate to reduce air pollution -- both ozone and particulates -- by 2009, putting virtually every transportation or commercial/industrial development decision under an increasingly detailed environmental microscope."

"But there's not always a clear-cut answer when balancing the transportation needs of one growing community with the broader concerns of the region."

"That's why planners have to consider, for example, whether the privately funded and fast-tracked interchange to be built in Avon will add to air pollution in that Lorain County suburb -- and the entire region."

"Critics are certain that it will."