Smog Laws
Air pollution is one of the biggest problems facing the environment, being that it is not as easily cleaned up as land and water areas that are polluted. The effects of contaminated air are far worse and effect the world as a whole, thus state governments enforce policies that aim to reduce air pollution. These policies are commonly referred to as smog laws.
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Purpose
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Clean-air policies are designed by governments to regulate production of pollutants that primarily effect the air. Smog laws mainly focus on automobile emissions by providing certain standards which have to be followed by present and prospective car owners. The reasons for instituting with such laws include not only reducing air pollution, but also increasing humankind's awareness about ecology and the benefits of a cleaner natural environment.
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Benefits
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Smog laws aim to provide society with a better quality of breathable air through reducing pollution. Aside from the obvious benefits of cleaner air, it is also expected that the risks of airborne illnesses are decreased significantly by having a cleaner and healthier environment.
Implementation
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Internationally, smog laws take the form of treaties that are signed by a number of states that have reached a particular agreement in reducing air pollution. The policies vary between individual governments, thus it is normal to encounter different emission laws in different countries, or even in separate states. In the United States, one of the most-prominent local governments concerned with environmental laws and issues is California. In an effort to reduce smog, California has implemented higher standards of emission tests on automobiles, among other policies.
Effects
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Among the most-visible effects of smog laws is the introduction of emission testing centers. Vehicles now have to undergo emission tests to see whether the smoke they produce exceeds the carbon monoxide limits stated in the Clean Air Act. Car owners are then subject to taking their automobiles to a mechanic for cleaning and fine tuning, in order to comply with the law's emission-reduction objectives. In California, where smog has come to be a big problem, vehicle owners now are required to renew their emission test certificates as an assurance that their automobiles do not contribute to further air damage.
Importance
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Although smog laws have been enforced in California though the Clean Air Act, not all states implement the same emission standards. This is in part due to the varying degree of air pollution in the state's territory. Regardless of the level of pollution, it is imperative that individual state laws aiming to reduce air pollution be followed. The main goal of the policy is to improve not merely the quality of air we breathe, but the overall quality of human and animal life.
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References
- Photo Credit "silhouettes" is Copyrighted by Flickr user: kainet (Germán Meyer) under the Creative Commons Attribution license.
