|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The Rice Thresher
Phone:
|
by Matt Cuddihy thresher staff
This year's Smog Jog included about 30 participants who stood out on the median of Main Street carrying signs protesting current air pollution levels in Houston and wearing T-shirts made for the event calling Houston's smog problem "deadly." The signs said such things as "Breathe easy - it's only poison," "Take a Deep Breath ... Yum! ... Tastes Like Cancer!" and "We finally beat LA - Houston: #1 in Air Pollution." Other participants jogged around the Outer Loop wearing white surgical masks. According to Environmental Club member Brian Pietruszewski, a Jones College senior, the goals of the Smog Jog were threefold: to raise awareness of the pollution problem, to bolster support for alternative methods of transportation, and to try to get clean air laws more strongly enforced. Pietruszewski also noted that a secondary yet significant goal was to emphasize presidential candidate George W. Bush's poor environmental record in Texas. Pietruszewski said that though the event wasn't meant to be political, the event was held earlier in the year than the 1999 event so it could be before the election. Pietruszewski said Bush's tenure as governor has seen improvements to the environment because of federal regulations, not because of anything done on the state level. Furthermore, Pietruszewski said the club officially supports Green Party presidential candidate Ralph Nader. Green signs simply declaring "Nader" were among those carried by participants. Environmental Club member Megan McGehee, a Brown College junior, agreed with Pietruszewski informing people about pollution was especially important this year. "Even if people know about the stats, they just put them in the back of their mind," she said. Response to the Smog Jog seemed minimal, though some people driving by honked in support of the event, including the driver of a Metro bus. Houston overtook Los Angeles last year as the No. 1 smoggiest city in the United States and has traded this title on and off with the southern California metropolis. The title for smoggiest city is based on the number of days per year in which there is an "unhealthy" level of ozone in the air. According to Environmental Club literature, Texas not only ranks No. 1 in the number of days with unhealthy ozone levels, but also No. 1 in amount of airborne carcinogens, ozone components and toxic air releases. Fittingly, on the day of the Smog Jog, Houston was experiencing an "ozone warning."
- back - |
|||
|
Search the Thresher pages:
This document may be distributed electronically, provided that it is distributed in its entirety and includes this notice. However, it cannot be reprinted without the express written permission of: The Rice Thresher, Rice University MS-524, PO Box 1892, Houston, TX 77251-1892, USA. The Thresher Online Project -- ethresh@listserv.rice.edu |
