Air Pollution

Narrator: This is what the new rules hope to correct--that grimy smog hanging in the air over so many American cities. The EPA plan will require the refiners of diesel fuel to cut the amount of sulfur in the fuel by 97% and at the same time require dramatic cuts in the tail pipe emissions of trucks and buses with the use of pollution-controlling devices.

EPA Woman: The dirty diesel buses and trucks of today will be history.

Narrator: But the proposals are very controversial in the oil industry, which says the changes would result in a drastic increase in the cost of diesel fuel.

Oil Man: It sets a nationwide standard that the refining industry cannot meet, for a new product that the fuel-distribution system cannot provide, at a cost that American consumers cannot afford...

Narrator: But the EPA says the cuts are necessary to reduce the smog and fumes increasingly linked to cancer and respiratory problems like asthma.

Woman 2: As aggressive as the new EPA rules are, it could still be years before you can breathe a little easier if you're stuck behind the back of a bus. The new regulations will be phased in beginning in 2007. But the older, less-efficient vehicles will likely be on the roads for years after that.

2003 McGraw-Hill Higher Education
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