The NYC air quality report was an interesting read because I think it highlighted a few key points that must be taken into consideration when assessing air quality in the city. I liked the focus on air pollution because I believe people too often forget that air pollution is an concern that directly affects our well-being. We have to breathe in air as humans and if our air is polluted, we are subject to a plethora of health concerns and issues. The text does a wonderful, although frightening, job of emphasizing these exact problems, stating that “current levels” of PM 2.5 result in or can contribute to cardiovascular and respiratory disease amongst other health emergencies. However (and thankfully) the text also explains how PlaNYC aims to alleviate, if not solve, these dilemmas. It was quite exciting to see how beneficial some of these efforts have been, especially in terms of health consequences. It was crazy to see how in Table 1, which estimated the annual health problems prevented due to air-quality improvements was around 25% across the board, the result of just a few years of action.
At first I thought it was surprising and honestly a bit funny/ridiculous that the goal of PlaNYC was to make NYC’s air quality the cleanest of any big cities. This seemed incredibly ambitious and almost impossible because we’ve read countless articles reinforcing the idea that NYC is the epitome of environmental degradation and has a host of issues that require immediate solutions. However, what resonated with me was how efficient PlaNYC was. City-wide initiatives are complemented with local action to improve air quality; this enabled action to be both comprehensive, as well as localized. The text also stated how the city worked with state officials, specifically to reduce the sulfur content in oil by an astounding 99%. I think this goes to show if people really do care about an issue, action can be taken that will result in extensive benefits. We always talk about how the government does not take solidified and consistent steps to counteract environmental degradation and this was a great example to contrast this mindset. Even in terms of monitoring air-quality, the public was very involved in allowing PlaNYC to succeed.
Lastly, I was glad to see that the report addressed existing challenges that remain. Even though changes have been notable and should be celebrated, there is much to do in terms of reducing NOx emissions. A lot of this has to do with traffic congestion and population, which means that maybe PlaNYC could team up with the MTA or another organization to work with. These partnerships are crucial to implementing change and solving these residual problems. If there were more intiatives being made, I’m sure NYC would move from being the 7th cleanest city with air-quality to the first in no time.
