Breathing Easier: Cap and Trade Lowers Smog Levels in Eastern United States
"More than 102 million Americans are breathing cleaner air due to decreases in smog-forming emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx) according to the NOx Budget Trading Program annual report. The 2007 summertime NOx emissions from power plants and industrial sources were down by 60 percent compared to 2000 levels and 74 percent below 1990 levels in 20 eastern states and the District of Columbia.

The program helped improve air quality in 95 percent of nonattainment areas in the east, with 64 percent of these areas now below the ozone standard. Some of the report highlights show that:
* the largest NOx emission reductions occurred in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, West Virginia, and Kentucky; and
* the reduction of NOx – a precursor to ground-level ozone, or smog – has helped reduce ozone concentrations an average of 10 percent in the eastern part of the country since the start of the program in 2003."