Texas commission refuses to take up issue of environmental regulation

A commission in northern Texas is ignoring the environmental request of a medical society.

There is a growing fight in northern Texas between medical professionals and those who are in charge of making changes to air quality control. The Dallas County Medical Society asked Texas environmental regulators back in October to make changes to how they would be policing pollution control on coal-fired power plants that were damaging the atmosphere. While they knew it would be an uphill battle to get the changes they deem necessary actually made, they believed it was a public health concern worth fighting for.

The association – made up of 6,500 physicians across the state – said that they were seeing an increasing amount of patients who were being affected by the worsening environmental conditions, so they decided to take their fight to where they believed change could actually be made. When the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) took up their request, they got an answer they were not expecting: The level of ozone in the atmosphere should be increased.

“There is data to suggest that we should be raising the ozone level,” Bryan Shaw, the commission’s chairman, said to doctors who testified. “I think there’s concern that we may be chasing the wrong rabbit.”

When the doctors refused to budge on their stance – that there should be stricter environmental regulations placed on coal-fired plants – the commission shot down the request. The high levels of ozone that will be pumped into the environment will be a major health risk for every citizen, particularly those who suffer from asthma, lung disease, heart disease and diabetes. It is not know what further action will be taken by either the commission or the medial society.

If you want to improve the indoor air quality of your home or office, be sure to invest in a new machine from US Air Purifiers Direct 2U!