Smokestacks in other states taint D.C. air

On sticky summer days when breaths are short and coughs come quickly, new data from the Government Accountability Office reveal that Washingtonians can point a finger of blame toward West Virginia. West Virginia, along with nearby Pennsylvania, Kentucky and Ohio, is home to more than a quarter of the nation’s 284 tall smokestacks emitting the byproducts of coal-powered energy that become lung-irritating ozone and particulate matter, according to the report. Those tall stacks — defined as more than 500 feet high — keep the byproducts away from their immediate communities, but send them instead to the D.C. area by way of typical west-to-east wind patterns.