Smog Can Be A Killer, But Wisconsin Still Has Its Dirty Air Apologists

A federal scientific study shows that smog can be a killer.

But the Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce, Patrick McIlheran and the Doyle administration are arguing that federal clean air regulations in southeastern Wisconsin are too restrictive.

Now there's a trifecta for you.

The smog tolerators claim that our region will lose jobs if George Bush's Environmental Protection Agency adopts rules to make the air cleaner - - rules watered down already, but still unacceptable to some on the non-compassionate side of conservatism.

I imagine the next step for the dirty air advocates is asking the state's medical, funeral home and cemetery professions to calculate the economic benefits from smog-exposure illness and death, then fold those numbers into the pro-jobs' cost/benefit analysis.

That could take the sting out of the scientific study's finding of "strong evidence that short-term exposure to ozone can exacerbate lung conditions, causing illness and hospitalization and can potentially lead to death," and turn it into a heckuva plus!