Regardless of where you stand in the endless, rancorous debate over global warming, we should all agree on one thing — we must be on a continuous national mission to reduce our reliance on petroleum.

Seldom, however, do we stop to applaud ourselves for the progress that has been made.

Evidence of that arrived in a surprising fashion last week in a press release from the New England office of the Environmental Protection Agency announcing an increase in summer ozone days.

That’s right, an increase. How can that be good news?

We’ll explain.

There were 28 ozone alert days in New England between April and September compared to 11 days in 2009.

Connecticut had the most, 28 compared to five in 2009. Maine had six days compared to three in 2009. Vermont had the least, none.

The increase, according to the EPA, is directly related to the hot weather we experienced this year. Sunlight and high temperatures speed the formation of smog and ozone.

But when you put that information into historical context, you can see just how far we have come.

In 1983, according to the EPA, New England had 113 unhealthy ozone days, compared with 28 this summer.

An unhealthy day is when ozone concentrations exceed 0.075 parts per million over an eight-hour period.

But the EPA also measures how often individual monitors exceed the standard for shorter periods.

In 2002, New England experienced 860 monitored exceedances. That compares to 101 this past year, more than an eight-fold improvement, despite the extremely warm weather.

The EPA points out that autos are 77 to 95 percent cleaner than they used to be, while new standards for diesel trucks and buses have cut their emissions by 90 percent.

In short, we have made progress.

Still, there is much to be done. Our continued reliance on oil endangers not only our environment and health, but our national security and economy.

In 2008, oil prices increased wildly, causing pain not only at the gas pump, but making it difficult for thousands of Mainers to heat their homes.

Friday, the Obama administration announced that it intends to seek dramatically higher fuel economy standards for cars and light trucks made between 2017 and 2025.

Environmentalists hope the administration will seek a fleet-wide average of 60 miles per gallon by 2025.

That standard could save Mainers $427 million at the gas pump starting in 2030, according to the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Union of Concerned Scientists.

Rules adopted earlier this year already require new vehicles to average 35.5 miles per gallon by 2016.

The new rules are certainly ambitious, especially in a state where many residents prefer pickup trucks and other four-wheel-drive vehicles.

Still, 2025 is 15 years away, and millions of dollars are currently pouring into electrical vehicle technology.

We’re optimistic.

Plus, as the annual ozone reports show, we can make remarkable progress when government and industry work hand in hand to solve environmental problems.

editorialboard@sunjournal.com

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