The EPA is letting two of the smoggiest cities in the country get away with lax regulation by blaming Asia and Mexico for their pollution. More people will get sick as a result.

From Bloomberg Opinion (gift link above):

“Pollution, like money, is fungible. Once you breathe carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, it’s interchangeable with all the other CO2 on the planet, just like how, when you deposit $20 into your bank account, it’s inseparable from the $40 that’s already there.

“Fungibility shouldn’t mean immunity from consequences, however. If that $20 comes from, say, selling fentanyl to schoolchildren, then the police can seize your $60 in assets, at least temporarily. And if you’re spewing pollution into the air, then you should be held accountable for your part in befouling the entire atmosphere.

“President Donald Trump’s “Environmental Protection Agency,” a name growing more ironic by the day, is giving polluters some wiggle room in that latter regard. It recently sided with the fossil-fuel industry (shocker) by agreeing that heavy smog in Phoenix and Salt Lake City was being worsened by smog produced thousands of miles away in Asia and Mexico, making tighter regulations on local cars, factories and power plants unfair. The result will be many sicker people, and not only in Phoenix and Salt Lake City.”