Smog covered downtown Asheville on July 21, 2008. A Code Orange air quality alert was issued for most of Western North Carolina, especially mountain elevations. Photo compliments of the Asheville Citizen-Times.
As planned the fall day provided flawless weather conditions for the launch of the Tiger Woods-sponsored residential community called The Cliffs at High Carolina. The Sunday Asheville Citizen-Times edition provided coverage of the sales event with two front page articles: “Woods cachet could be key to Cliffs’ sales” and “Woods unveils ambitious Cliffs course design.”
Jim Anthony, President and CEO of The Cliffs Communities and Tiger Woods co-hosted the November 8, 2008 High Carolina party and tour for a large gathering of media, recent purchasers and prospective clients.
During the news conference Mr. Anthony told the audience that he had sold about 50 High Carolina lots, which are located near the proposed golf course, for more than $40 million.
Mr. Woods promoted the spectacular scenery by saying “This property is phenomenal, breathtaking, with 50-mile views. I grew up in (Southern California) with nothing but smog; we couldn’t see anything,” Mr. Anthony told reporters that Woods often visits the property.
Asheville Citizen-Times reporter, Keith Jarrett, said in his article that "the view looking west toward Asheville from the green of the drivable par-4 14th hole was a gorgeous, long-range look toward the setting sun."
It is obvious from Messrs. Anthony and Woods’s comments that they have not visited Asheville during warm weather months when smog seriously impairs visibility and lung function. The situation is so critical that on January 30, 2006 Attorney General Roy Cooper filed a lawsuit on behalf of the citizens of North Carolina against the Tennessee Valley Authority. In his press release Mr. Cooper stated that “TVA’s pollution is making North Carolinians sick, damaging our economy and harming our environment.”
On August 4, 2008 the Asheville Citizen-Times reported that the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources had issued a public health air quality alert for mountain areas near Asheville. ( “Air quality unhealthy at high elevations” ) Pollution warnings are common during summer months when elevated temperatures trap the ozone-laden air over the mountain region. Air quality in Western North Carolina is not expected to improve in the near future.
If the High Carolina land sales premiere had been held on July 21, 2008 the expensive sought-after mountain views would have been invisible.
1 comment:
Hi,
Different Cities, Different Types of Smog. Not all smog is created equal. Just like any type of soup, it is all in what you put in it. Smog is a low-level atmospheric mixture of several different kinds of air pollution. In some areas, such as those near coal-fired power plants, the main constituents of smog are the byproducts of fossil-fuel burning such as sulfur dioxide, ground level ozone and carbon monoxide. Massive smog events can also be caused by residential coal burning, as in the case of the "Great London Smog of 1952" that killed thousands in a few weeks.
Cities that are near active volcanoes (such as Mt. Etna in Sicily and many others) are especially likely to suffer from infrequent but very traumatic smog events. In this case, though entirely natural, many of the chemical components of this "vog" are the same as what might be seen with petrochemical smog. Sulfur dioxide and very harmful, tiny, caustic particles are also a concern.
Tommy,
SustainGreenPower.com
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