Yes, the air quality in the Tennessee Valley is absolutely disgusting, but don't expect it to get any better. It will approach Mexico City or Tehran levels before anyone decides we need to change. I struggle with breathing as well and I'm a young, non-smoker. I spent most of june and early july in Sweden and I haven't breathed so easily in years. I'm not here to preach about how things should be done in the southern US, but while they are constantly doing things like building new bike lanes and light rail lines, our government is spending even more money widening highways that cut right through our city centers. Knoxville is at the intersection of 2 of the busiest interstates in the country and there was an opportunity to create a bypass for freight trucks, but millions have already been spent on widening i-40 thru downtown. The sprawl is so out of control that any non-bus transit is out of the question. WTG, TN politicians.
As I see it, our best bets are to encourage more freight to switch to trains and encourage alt. energy sources (non-coal). Hopefully the price of oil will keep sprawl and the mighty suv at bay for a while
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07-19-2008, 10:18 PM
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