The importance of public education in air pollution control

Abstract

Air pollution control efforts by federal, State, regional, and municipal agencies and by industry have expanded tremendously within the past few years. That this increased effort is a reflection of elevated public understanding of the problem and rising public insistence upon action is inescapable. Through all media of mass communication, through the efforts of public service organizations, and through the actions and pronouncements of public officials at all levels of government, the popular desire for better control of air pollution is being expressed with mounting frequency and increasing impact. This fact, in addition to generating an unprecedented expansion in control activity, requires that communication between the individuals and agencies responsible for air pollution control and the citizen, to whom this responsibility is owed, be open, comprehensive, and forthright. Any other response to the need for public information and education concerning the problem of air pollution must in the long run seriously jeopardize the air pollution control effort. © 1967 Air & Waste Management Association.