Friday, May 02, 2008
Air Quality Report Gives Pittsburgh a Black Eye
This is the type of headline that media outlets love: “Pittsburgh has the worst air in the country”. Print, radio and TV news outlets have been running this headline since the American Lung Association’s State of the Air report showed Pittsburgh moving ahead of Los Angeles in terms of sooty air. But instead of taking the time to show how misleading this report is, and thus save Pittsburgh’s reputation, they are accomplices in a smear campaign.
The reality is the ranking is based on only one of twelve air monitoring meters in Allegheny County—a meter that sits in a valley near a steel mill. Yet this one meter is being used by the American Lung Association to sully the reputation of an entire region. But the ALA is not about to let facts get in the way of promoting their propaganda.
There are twelve meters scattered throughout Allegheny County, one in both Beaver and Westmoreland Counties, and two in Washington County. However, the ALA report includes an eight county area which includes more than 2.2 million people. But as the Allegheny County Health Department notes, there are only 25,000 people living near the offending meter. But to read the headlines, all 2.2 million people are at risk.
If all the meter readings in the area were averaged together, they would be more than acceptable. But the response from the policy leader from the ALA says “we don’t average them together because you don’t breathe average air.” It’s also not fair to lump in an entire region because of one meter. Is it possible that other cities benefit because the ALA only measures a “clean” monitor instead of a “dirty” one? Would the ALA consider using a different monitor for future Allegheny County readings or do they relish using the high reading meter so they can continue their fear mongering?
The ALA’s methodology is very weak and only succeeds as a smear tactic. Pittsburgh’s air quality has improved by leaps and bounds since the mid twentieth century. Furthermore the media, following the “if it bleeds it leads” mentality has been an unwitting accomplice to the ALA’s propaganda. Too bad faulty research and media hype has set back the effort to polish up the steel city’s image.
The reality is the ranking is based on only one of twelve air monitoring meters in Allegheny County—a meter that sits in a valley near a steel mill. Yet this one meter is being used by the American Lung Association to sully the reputation of an entire region. But the ALA is not about to let facts get in the way of promoting their propaganda.
There are twelve meters scattered throughout Allegheny County, one in both Beaver and Westmoreland Counties, and two in Washington County. However, the ALA report includes an eight county area which includes more than 2.2 million people. But as the Allegheny County Health Department notes, there are only 25,000 people living near the offending meter. But to read the headlines, all 2.2 million people are at risk.
If all the meter readings in the area were averaged together, they would be more than acceptable. But the response from the policy leader from the ALA says “we don’t average them together because you don’t breathe average air.” It’s also not fair to lump in an entire region because of one meter. Is it possible that other cities benefit because the ALA only measures a “clean” monitor instead of a “dirty” one? Would the ALA consider using a different monitor for future Allegheny County readings or do they relish using the high reading meter so they can continue their fear mongering?
The ALA’s methodology is very weak and only succeeds as a smear tactic. Pittsburgh’s air quality has improved by leaps and bounds since the mid twentieth century. Furthermore the media, following the “if it bleeds it leads” mentality has been an unwitting accomplice to the ALA’s propaganda. Too bad faulty research and media hype has set back the effort to polish up the steel city’s image.
