Study Sees Cities' Air Quality Worsening

Cleveland's industrial valley provides a backdrop for vehicle traffic on Interstate 90 through the city Thursday, Sept. 13, 2007, in Cleveland. A study released Thursday predicts more bad air days in the summer for Cleveland, Columbus and eight other eastern U.S. cities if global warming continues unabated. (AP Photo/Mark Duncan) (Mark Duncan - AP)

Ebell said environmentalists fail to take credit for their own success in improving air quality, adding that the Clean Air Act, while expensive, has worked.

"The amount of days in which American cities are out of compliance with the Clean Air Act for ozone has been declining," said Ebell, whose Competitive Enterprise Institute is funded by corporations from a variety of industries.

Matt Carroll, director of the Cleveland Department of Public Health, acknowledged air quality in northeast Ohio has improved slightly, but said it's still a problem the region has struggled with for decades.

He said the study should serve to show the urgency of the issue.

"It confirms all the concerns we've already had about air quality," Carroll said.

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On the Net:

Competitive Enterprise Institute: http://www.cei.org

Natural Resources Defense Council: http://www.nrdc.org