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Anyone who has happened to look at the city skyline over the past several days couldn’t miss the thick heavy smog which has clouded the city view. Caused in large part by the recent heat wave, the exposed air pollution unfortunately just seems to be a regular occurrence we must now face on the sauna inducing days such as today. However, the situation may in fact be a lot worse than initially thought.
A recently released analysis from the National Resources Defense Council (NRDC) has declared that Maryland ranks 5th in the nation for states with the most toxic air pollution from power plants.
The study reveals that Maryland has close to 30 million pounds of toxic air pollution created by the industrial sector (primarily manufacturing), in addition to over 27 million pounds of toxic air pollution created by the electrical sector (primarily power creation), with electricity generation accounting for 91 percent of the total toxic air pollution in the state.
Pair this with today’s code red air quality alert, as well as the fact that today’s heat index is supposed to reach a scorching 120 degrees here in Baltimore and Marylanders are definitely in need of a breath of fresh air.
The states on the ``Toxic 20¹¹ list (from worst to best) are:
1. Ohio.
2. Pennsylvania.
3. Florida.
4. Kentucky.
5. Maryland.
6. Indiana.
7. Michigan.
8. West Virginia.
9. Georgia.
10. North Carolina.
11. South Carolina.
12. Alabama.
13. Texas.
14. Virginia.
15. Tennessee.
16. Missouri.
17. Illinois.
18. Wisconsin.
19. New Hampshire.
20. Iowa.
—Summer editorial intern Tyler Green wrote this piece.
