In 1970 the Congress passed a re-newed Clean Air Act and it gave the EPA "power to set and enforce national standards" on "particulate matter, carbon monoxide and other pollutants". The law required catalytic converters on cars and scrubbers at new factories and is "widely credited with improving the nation's air quality". This study says the average life span for Americans increased by 3 years from 1978 to 2001 with "as much as 4.8 months of that" due to cleaner air. Researchers from Brigham Young University and Harvard School of Public Health published the study in the New England Journal of Medicine. They studied 51 US cities and found that those more committed to clean air-like Pittsburgh and Buffalo-saw a greater benefit from clean air; longer life expectancy. Since 2000 there has been a 11 % decrease in particulates, considered the "grit of polluted air". (Sounds like the Clean Air Act of 1970 has been a successful piece of legislation; again for those who think Congress is worthless).
(Source: "Cleaner Air, Longer Life" by Alicia Chang of the AP. The Virginian Pilot on January 22, 2009)
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