Focus On...Air Quality in North Carolina

The final perspective takes place in western North Carolina, whose residents are facing more possibilities of respiratory illness because of the air quality there. Linden treks the Blue Ridge Parkway, whose beautiful scenery is now obscured by a brown fog, caused by pollution from coal-fired plants in western Carolina and the Tennessee Valley Authority. Because coal-fired plants are not governed by the same regulations as some of the more updated industries, they release more sulfates and other toxins into the air, causing increases in incidents of asthma and bronchitis.