Press Mention WVLT Volunteer TV (Knoxville) February 16, 2005
SACE Quoted
Is Clean Energy the Answer to Asthma Rating?
In this mention
A WVLT Knoxville news segment reports that Knoxville has been ranked the worst city for asthma sufferers for the second consecutive year. Dr. Stephen Smith of the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy attributes the problem to coal-fired power plants, diesel truck emissions, the interstate system, weather patterns, and natural pollen abundance. Smith argues that tougher emissions regulations and air quality controls could significantly reduce asthma rates in the region.
There's no doubt in my mind that we can reduce it.
Stephen A. Smith
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Full transcript
Is Clean Energy the Answer to Asthma Rating?
The flu is only part of what's making some people here in Knoxville sick. And in the warmer months of the year, the air quality in East Tennessee can also make you ill.
In fact, Knoxville was ranked the worst city to live for people with asthma.
Volunteer TV's Kelly Cox explains what has some East Tennesseans gasping for breath.
"Unless you have experienced a child with asthma and seen how hard it is, sometimes you don't have a full appreciation of how scary that disease is," says Dr. Stephen Smith, from the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy.
For the second year in a row the Asthma Foundation of America ranks Knoxville as the asthma capital of the nation.
And while that doesn't mean we have more asthma sufferers than any other city, if you do have the disease, it may very well be the toughest place to live.
"I think it's a combination of the way we get our energy from coal fire plants, transportation from diesel trucks, the interstate system, and also the weather and the mountains. All of those things contribute," says Dr. Smith.
East Tennessee is at a geographical disadvantage. Polluted air from the Ohio Valley or the Atlanta Metro Area can move in, become trapped, and stagnate between the Cumberland Plateau and the Smoky Mountains. Our region also has a natural abundance of pollen.
"We really don't want to go cut down all the trees or do away with all the flowers that contribute to pollen," continues Smith.
So does that mean asthma sufferers should start packing their bags? Dr. Stephen smith says no.
"There's no doubt in my mind that we can reduce it."
But Smith say making Knoxville a safe place for people with asthma will take tougher regulations on power plant and vehicle emissions.
"It may mean that for us to enjoy that with out a significant number of our citizens suffering from air quality, we may have to go the extra distance to change the factors we can control," Dr. Smith adds.
And hopefully make us all breath a little easier.
The study also sites a lack of public smoking restrictions as a contributing factor.
For more information on reducing the factors contributing to asthma, visit www.cleanenergy.org.