Bret you crack me up, both hands, cripes I thought you'd give us more credit than that, but even the the 3 hander's around here still have trouble LOL !!!!!
The problem is that there are those who seemingly do not have a clue when it comes to efficient combustion. These people foster smoldering, smokey fires that choke the surrounding people out, and I can say from the experience of having neighbors whom do this in good weather with burn piles etc. its infuriating when you are sitting outside say in May when the apple blossoms are out, and you're choked out by a giant waft of this carcinogenic cloud that just lingers because the air is calm. My father has COPD from asthma or we don't really know, this would trigger something really bad, easily put him in the hospital, thankfully he's 30 or so miles north of here. Its more than rude when folks do this and I have tracked down and spoken to several in my neighborhood about the effects of what they are doing. Personally, I use a burn barrel for papers, cardboard, undesirable wood, brush etc. absolutely no plastic, thick stacks of newspapers or garbage, it all gets sorted, recycled if it can be, some just burn all that and make the surrounding people suffer. My fires are hot, short and burn as clean as you can get, barrel has no bottom and holes above that, its like a blast furnace, roaring to vengeance on quickly incinerating its contents. I take exception to people who don't get it and will act upon it immediately, no one person has the right to cause a situation like this and choke people out with their selfish, cheap and seemingly stupid means to half a$$ attempt to burn and dispose of things that should not be burnt, things that create toxic, intolerable concentrations of smoke that lingers and is highly irritating.
As far as wood burning for heat goes, some don't seem to burn dry wood, most do, but for the most part its not a problem, colder weather, windows being closed etc. However, you get some jerk whom is either ignorant, stupid or careless with a outdoor wood boiler, putting soaked sponge logs into the fire box and smokes out a valley, village or similar populated area, I mean there are other people to consider here and please be cognizant of that instead of being selfish when you heavily contaminate the air with excess smoke. In summary, there's always a bad apple in the barrel and that is what always starts regulation, because masses of others rightfully will not put up with being smoked out by some obstinate, demonstratively unintelligent fool whom thinks they are well within their rights to do so without any acknowledgement of the effects.
We do have DEC and there is a need for it when people cause problems with excess smoke, those whom are so ignorant and stubborn that its either resorting to vigilantism, or DEC. Those who know how to burn properly, are no real problem.