Today is the first real summer day that Toronto has seen this year. People are breaking out their shorts, tank tops and sun glasses. Yet, today also serves as a sober reminder of how polluted North America’s air has become since today we also see the first smog alert issued by the Ontario Environment Ministry spreading to almost all the major cities in Ontario. Ironically, it turns out while Canada pollutes Alberta’s landscape to export oil to US, Ontario imports smog in return. The cost is of coarse paid by those that have nothing to do with the actual transaction. This is why its called market failure because the market fails to account for the “externality”, cost of poor air quality incurred by society.

Warm, sunny conditions, combined with a southerly flow of polluted air from the U.S. and a local build-up of pollutants are resulting in elevated smog levels across parts of Ontario.

Smog is a hazy mix of pollutants made up of ground-level ozone, fine particulate matter and other pollutants. During the summer months, more than half of Ontario’s smog-causing pollution originates in the United States. In cooler months, domestic sources can be significant contributors to the formation of fine particulate matter. - Ontario Ministry of Environment

While I certainly welcome the positive news such as the 70 megawatts of solar panel power set to start Monday, it isn’t enough to prevent sunny days become smog filled sunny days like today.

The scope of the problem demands legislative action to fix this market failure as soon as possible, not ineffective plans that won’t come into affect until 2020 or 2050, passing the buck to future governments and future generations.