Albuquerque's Environmental Story provides background information on Albuquerque, New Mexico's air quality conditions; chronicles efforts to improve local air quality; and offers discussion points, proposals, and activities related to monitoring and improving the area's air quality.

Clean Air Counts is a regional Illinois initiative to reduce ozone-causing emissions, thereby improving air quality and enabling economic development. It is a collaborative effort between the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus, the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency and US EPA Region 5 and a project of the Delta Institute. The three-year initiative begun in 2000 seeks to achieve specific and significant reductions in targeted smog-forming pollutants and major reductions in energy consumption, by businesses, households, communities, and governments.

Clean Air Strategic Alliance, in Alberta, Canada, is a non-profit association composed of diverse stakeholders from government, industry, and non-government organizations (such as health and environment groups). Senior representatives from each of the three sectors are committed to developing and applying a comprehensive air quality management system for the people of Alberta through a consensus-based process.

The Clean Air Campaign of the Land of Sky Regional Council in North Carolina works to make citizens aware of air quality and their role in solving air quality problems by saving energy and driving less. Land of Sky also has a Clean Car Campaign that promotes public awareness of low-emission and alternative fuel vehicles.

CO2 Reduction Plan was adopted by the city of Chula Vista, California in November, 2002. The plan was developed in collaboration with the Cities for Climate Protection Program headed by the International Council of Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI). The plan focuses on reducing fossil fuel consumption and decreasing reliance on power generated by fossil fuel, to lower the community's greenhouse gas emissions while strengthening the local economy and improving environmental conditions. 

Greenhouse & Statehouse: The Evolving State Government Role in Climate Change, a 2002 report from the Pew Center on Global Climate Change, features case studies of nine states - Georgia, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Jersey, North Carolina, Oregon, Texas, and Wisconsin - that have taken action to mitigate climate change.

LUTRAQ (Land Use, Transportation and Air Quality) was a citizen-led project in Portland, Oregon that emerged from a proposal to build a new freeway. The premise of LUTRAQ was that land use patterns were forcing people to drive more, worsening air quality. LUTRAQ reorganized land use patterns and proposed principles for action that would improve air quality.

New York Alternative Fuel Vehicle acquisition has exceeded Energy Policy Act (EPAct) mandates for years. By 2002, the state had more than 1,900 AFVs in the state fleet.

NRDC's Eco-Office: Tomorrow's Workplace, Today details the construction features in the Natural Resources Defense Council's new building in Washington D.C., which includes a number of energy efficiency and environmental features. The design reduced energy consumption by 50 percent, CO2 by 170,000 lbs/year, SOx by 2,000 lbs/year and NOx by 600 lbs/year. 

Puget Sound Clean Air Agency maintains a website with information on current air quality, regulations, actions that individuals can take to improve air quality, education and outreach programs and business assistance.

Partners for Clean Air based in Chicago, Illinois, is a coalition committed to improving air quality. Its website lists specific tips for reducing emissions (such as local public transit information) as well as ozone data, more general air pollution information and an envirofun section for kids.

Regional Air Quality Council of Denver, Colorado works to meet federal health standards and improve air quality in a six-county area. The website includes their blueprint for clean air, information on carbon monoxide and ozone pollution, reports on current air conditions and an on-line slide show on regional air quality.

Schlegel Corporation in Rochester, New York, received a New York State Governor's Award for Pollution Prevention for the company's elimination of methylene chloride emissions by 100 percent or 40,000 pounds a year, which also reduced company costs. Other Governor's Award for Pollution Prevention winners from 1994 to the present are also featured online.

St. Louis Regional Clean Air Partnership offers access to current air quality information for the St. Louis, Missouri area, as well as information on ozone pollution and its health effects and what individuals can do to reduce ozone pollution.

Tufts University is in the process of adopting a set of strenuous climate change goals developed by the Conference of New England Governors and Eastern Canadian Premiers, becoming the first university to do so. Tufts has already been recognized for its commitment to reducing greenhouse emissions. The ambitious new goals not only call for a reduction to 1990 greenhouse gas emission levels by 2010, but ultimately a 75 to 80 percent reduction.

The Vail Environmental Strategic Plan describes a program in Vail, Colorado that was adopted to maintain and improve environmental quality in the Vail Valley and to ensure the prolonged economic health of the region. Efforts include monitoring and improving air and water quality, preserving open space and protecting the area's natural wildlife.
 

Collections of Air Pollution Prevention Success Stories   

National Association of Local Government Environmental Professionals (NALGEP) offers the report Profiles of Local Clean Air Innovation: Empowering Communities to Meet the Air Quality Challenges of the 21st Century, with 20 examples of local governments that are taking action in their communities to improve and protect air quality through smart growth, clean energy, transportation choice and pollution prevention practices.

Megalinks to success stories on other sites provide links to success stories on a wide variety of sustainable development topics, including Air Pollution Prevention.

Last updated: November 19, 2003

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