Georgia Conservancy’s air policy grew out of an understanding that our atmosphere has a finite ability to absorb manmade emissions before those emissions inflict harm on human health and on the environment. The policy serves as a framework for GC’s work for better protection of Georgia’s air resources. In addition, it identifies the basic principles that should guide our state’s air resource protection efforts and suggests strategies on the state, regional and local levels to bring about clean air in Georgia.

The Georgia Conservancy believes that there is an urgent need for a comprehensive statewide air quality plan that protects our health, environment and the quality of life from the pervasive threat of air pollution. On the local and regional levels, policies must be developed that support the larger statewide plan. Both plan and policy development should incorporate the following principles:

• All Georgians have a right to breathe air that is not harmful to their health. Currently, both ambient concentrations of ground-level ozone and fine particulate matter exceed federal air quality standards in Georgia. Other toxic air pollutants pose a threat as well.
• Air pollution damages the environment as well as human health. Global climate change threatens to place significant stresses upon the state’s hydrology , affecting both water quality and quantity, not to mention the biodiversity of our natural areas. Acid deposition and ground-level ozone also have negative impacts on our environment.
• Economic vitality is tied to proper air resource protection. Georgia has experienced, and will continue to experience, rapid economic growth. To protect our state’s economic vitality, the health of our citizens and our quality of life, we must properly manage our air resources.
• Clean air is everyone’s responsibility. Air quality concerns are the responsibility of not only state and federal governments but also local and regional governments as they relate to the air quality impacts of land use practices. Georgia’s citizens, businesses, and community leaders also bear responsibility for making personal choices and providing leadership that respects the importance of clean air.

The statewide air protection plan must not waver from the goal of clean air for all Georgians and must address:

• The need for cleaner technologies and fuels
• The need for changes in behavior and changes in land use practices
• The inter-relationship between air protection issues and other natural resource protection issues
• The need to move beyond traditional short-term fixes to long-term strategies whose benefits might not be readily visible

On the regional and local level, the Georgia Conservancy will support the protection of our air resources by promoting:

• An alternative approach to growth that supports infill and protects greenspace
• Increased funding for transportation options (e.g. walking, biking, transit)
• Transportation demand management
• Increased citizen involvement in transportation and land use decision-making

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