■The State We're-In Progress On Clean Air Is‘Lumpy’ V by David F. Moorr New Jersey is currently trying to develop an air quality control plan which will meet national and state standards. * If one can remember back 10 years or so, it's easy to see why progress is at best a lumpy thing which doesn't happen at the same speed on all fronts. Take football, for instance . , If von wonder what football has to do with air quality, stay tuned in My thesis is only momentarily marred by Q strike of pro football players v at the time of this writing. FOR THK RECORD, one needs to know that an air quality plan in general calls for certain reductions in several air pollutants, including ozone and carbon monox ide Ozone stems from the impact of sunligh^on nitrogen oxides and hydrocarbons, both of*which come from industrial and mobile sources, the latter consisting mainly of cars and trucks Ditto for carbon monoxide. Current thinking is that standards \vill be achieved by controls over both the stationary and mobile sources If you can cut the mobile sources enough you won't have to i>e so tough on the stationary sources, or vice versa. NOW FOR THE football, which in a normal season would take us to Giants "Stadium in the Hackensack Meadowlands. When t%New Jersey Sports and Exposition •Authority, was born of a state law a little over a decade ago, it got planted in the Hackensack Meadowlands * There, the Meadowlands Development Commission was already wrapping dp an intricate plan to irftroduce industry^ corrtmeroe and suburbia to the Manhattan-sized # low spot on the landscape The.Commissioneven set aside 1 some natural marsh areas HI T THE SPORTS Complex wasn't part of the Meadowlands Commission's plan One of the problems this aggravated was air quality, inasmuch as the meadowlands sit in a basin where, under certain weather conditions, pollution can accumulate without being dispersed by breezes Air quality was quite a problem even'before the Sports Complex was added to the scene. The legislature, considering and debating both wetlands development and air quality problems, finally voted the Sports Complex in. This led tbedurt battles and finally, agreement by the Sports and Exposition Authority to preserve any good wetlands, build a nature center into the complex so-people could learn about natural systems making mcadowlahds*ecology work and, among other things, establish a public transit system before more facilities were built than were originally planned TH \T WAS SI PPOSED to keep air quality from being worsened and thus endangering public health Somehow or utheMhe public transit part of the court order has never happened, and is still a long way off One of the results is that when a big sports event like a football game happens at the Sports Complex, you just tlon't gel up and leave-when it's over ANOTHER RESULT is that the Meadlowlands is a growin^ly congested corner of the state we're in which, no matter how hard the state tries with its despair implementatiorf plan, can't meet federal criteria Sv '*T|ie^ Department of Environmental Protection has been holding hearings on that plan during recent weeks, by the way ). , * 4 While the state tries to clean up our air. it continues to neglect to make sure that the court order is enforced for public transit in the Sports Complex area. Who is respon Sible for making the Ktate do what the courts tell it to do? mi INWHILE, JUST to further illustrate my description of progress as being lumpy and unsynchronized, think if you will about all those vehicles spewing fumes in the Sports (Complex •' And then be reminded that the state has irrationally succumbed to lobbyists and permitted automobile inspections. including checkups on emissions, to happen only every other year instead of every year! Right now this relaxation is on a test basis, but it stands every chance of becoming permanent If automotive pollution goes unrelieved by public transit and sensible inspections, can one assume that industry will.have to bear the brunt of air pollution controls? Or are we headed toward double-jointed' rationales to learn to love pollution, something even George Orwell forgot in infclUde m his prophetic novel, 1984

THIS WEEK’S WARM WEATHER brought back thoughts of summer, like this tranquil Dennisville scene. NFL Players Need PR Man, Economist

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by Philip Jaffa MOST OF my friends are angry at the NFL players for striking. They are outraged that anyone making $80,000 or more annually should complain about salary. And asking for a percentage of gross revenues or of tv revenues seems even more unreasonable. Not even the IRS takes its cut off the top before deducting legitimate business expenses. But for those who promote the virtues of competition id the marketplace, it's hard to direct anger strictly toward the players. The NFL owners have engaged in some clear anti-competitive practices. First, NFL owners limit the number of professional teams. With strong fan interest in the sport, football owners now appear to be making profits fa.- in excess of what they could earn by investing elsewhere. If there were no restrictions on the formation of hew teams, people would invest in professional football until the rate of return dropped to the same level as other investments. Americans would likely have more local professional football teams. > N. THE PLAYERS THEMSELVES don’t really object to the monopoly profits generated b>\expansion restrictions. While the union would Kaye more)members if the league expanded, the average wage level would decline with average profitability. No. The players are upset by another anti-competitive practice engaged in by management. The NLF owners receive most of their revenues from TV, which the teams share equally. • The sharing of revenues is hot a new monopolistic practice. U.S. railroads pooled revenues in the 1880s, eliminating the need for competitive pricing. The resulting higher prices came rigpE-obCdf consumers' pockets and the government properly outlawed the practice. But, contrary to the views of many, the NFL owners' scheme bilks players rather than consumers. Here is how it works. In the NFL, with tv revenues pooled, all teams apparently generate about the same revenues. The teams with the lowest costs therefore earn the highest profits. And with playefs' salaries reputed to be the majority of team costs, it seems that teams with the lowest payroll — not the best winning record — are the most profitable. By pooling revenues, the NFL owners have made winning largely irrelevant to profitability. If this isn't illegal, it ought-to be. THE NFL PLAYERS association cbulfl certainly use a

good PR man and an economist to explain what the owners are up to. The public wouldn’t be so hostile if they • knew what the players were fighting agaiast. Granting the players a percentage of gross revenues or tv revenues, obviously, would not reintroduce the principle of competition, which is whapnost of us would like to see. To do that, players and ttWfiers will have to turn in a different direction. ' They could, for example, grant tv and other revenues, to teams with the best records, to be divided among players and owners. That way, players would play as if their income depended on it. And owners would bid for players and coaches, knowing that their income depends upon a winning record. Vince Lombardi would turn over in his grave if he knew that in his beloved NFL, winning isn’t the only thing — it isn't anything. Philip Jaffa is a journalist and economist who works out