The latest focal point was a United Nations
Environment Program report on black carbon and
ozone (which, besides being a powerful greenhouse gas is a beneficial shield against radiation
high in the atmosphere but a noxious pollutant near the ground).
Unions for Jobs and the
Environment (UJAE), an organization of 12 national and international labor unions, including the United Mine Workers, the Teamsters and the Sheet Metal Workers, thinks the
ozone revision «would lead to significant job losses across the country during a period of
high unemployment, due to the significant increase in the number of counties classified as nonattainment.»