Power Crisis Increasing Pollution

"Due to the predicted slightly hotter-than-normal summer and forecasted increases in emissions from power plants and diesel generators, air quality in the Los Angeles is expected to significantly decrease this summer. The 14 power plants in the Southland have been forced to work full time during the energy crisis and have already spewed 2,045 tons of smog inducing nitrogen oxides into the air since January -- more than double the emissions from the same time last year, according to preliminary South Coast Air Quality Management District (http://www.aqmd.gov/ ) reports. The decrease in air quality due to nitrogen oxides and diesel soot, a carcinogen which has been shown to decrease lung capacity in children, is likely to have serious health consequences for residents. The increased emissions will also result in a large setback from the air district's 10-year goal to cut industrial emissions in half by 2003 to comply with federal clean air laws. Additionally, the Los Angeles area will likely regain its claim to being the "smoggiest city in the nation," a title the area recently lost to Houston, TX."