New Zealand has shameful air quality. According to the official statistics from the Ministry for the Environment, only 42% of monitored airsheds comply with air quality standards for PM10 (small particulates), while monitored airsheds in the South Island were almost always in violation of the standard. This poor environment kills people - air pollution kills 1100 people a year.
So naturally, the government is weakening air quality standards, increasing the number of exceedances permitted per year, while allowing the polluting industries which cause those deaths to keep on polluting and killing. Their excuse? Enforcing proper air quality standards might cost business money. So instead, they're going to continue letting 1100 people a year die, while the public picks up the tab for the excess lung disease and hospital admissions.
Just another example of the low priority National puts on the environment and our health compared to business profits.
