What's at Risk from Industry's Full-Scale Assault on the EPA and the Clean Air Act?

MAKE A PROMISE TO PROTECT CLEAN AIR.

Nearly 37 million children live in areas with unhealthy polluted air, and many pollution- associated illnesses have been on the rise. Yet polluters and their allies in Congress have been fighting efforts to reduce toxic industrial pollution and are trying to weaken existing clean air protections.

That's why NRDC has joined other public health, advocacy and environmental organizations in the "Clean Air Promise," a national campaign to protect the health of children and families across the country from dangerous air pollution. As part of this campaign, we will be asking elected officials, and later corporate and industry leaders, to promise to support clean air protections.

Send a message urging your senators and representative to make the Clean Air Promise to protect children from dangerous air pollution here. American families deserve this commitment from their elected representatives at a time when pollution from power plants, cement kilns and other industries and sources still pose serious threats to our health.

Since 1970, the Environmental Protection Agency has protected public health by setting and enforcing standards to protect the quality of the air we breathe and the water we drink.

But there is more to do. Many older power plants and industrial facilities enjoy loopholes that allow them to pollute at much higher levels than their cleaner counterparts. To protect public health from these dirty plants, we need the EPA to set standards that level the playing field by requiring all plants to meet the same cleaner standards. And since Congress failed to pass legislation to address global warming pollution, that job falls to the EPA.

However, polluters and some business organizations are pressuring members of Congress to stop the EPA from doing its job of protecting public health by rolling back existing public health laws like the Clean Air Act and blocking needed clean air and clean water protections.

Some key public health standards now under attack:

Standards to Reduce Toxic Power Plant Air Pollution
Establishing standards to reduce toxic pollution from the thousands of power plants nationwide could save as many as 17,000 lives a year, prevent respiratory and cardiovascular diseases, and reduce the exposure of children to mercury and lead.

Health Standards for Smog (Ground-Level Ozone)
We could save up to 12,000 lives per year and prevent tens of thousands of cases of respiratory and heart disease by tightening national smog pollution standards.

Standards to Reduce Toxic Industrial Air Pollution
We could save approximately 5,000 lives per year and prevent thousands of cases of respiratory and heart disease by reducing toxic air pollution from industrial plants.

Reducing Global Warming From Cars and Light Trucks
Improving emissions performance in cars and light trucks would reduce heat-trapping carbon pollution that causes global warming while saving consumers billions of dollars and cutting oil use.

Reducing Global Warming From Medium- and Heavy-Duty Trucks
The first-ever standards to cut carbon dioxide emissions and improve fuel efficiency in medium- and heavy-duty trucks would reduce global warming pollution, save 500 million barrels of oil over the lifetimes of the trucks sold during model years 2014 to 2018 and save truck operators $49 billion over the life of the vehicles.

Reducing Global Warming From Power Plants
Instituting standards to reduce global warming pollution from power plants would help reduce the pollution that is increasing deaths and illnesses from heat waves, air pollution, infectious diseases, and severe weather events.

Despite the EPA and the Clean Air Act’s success, the job isn’t finished. Air pollution continues to be a health problem, with many types of pollution and sources of pollution left unaddressed because of loopholes or political pressure or delays. But polluters and other special interests are once again asking Congress to put profits before public health.

Congress should let EPA do its job in order to ensure healthy air for all Americans.

Read more about the current status of these public health standards and the EPA's goals here.

THE EPA’S TRACK RECORD OF SUCCESS

The EPA is responsible for implementing the Clean Air Act. The law’s public health and economic benefits are among the nation’s most powerful legislative success stories.

• Between 1970 and 1990, the Clean Air Act prevented 205,000 premature deaths, 21,000 cases of heart disease and 843,000 asthma attacks.
• Since 1980, we have reduced lead levels in the air by 92 percent, greatly reducing the number of children with impaired intelligence.
• Since 1990, EPA’s implementation of the Clean Air Act has reduced levels of the six most common air pollutants by 41 percent, while gross domestic product has grown 64 percent.
• Independent analysis by the White House Office of Management and Budget concluded that the CAA saved Americans between $121 billion to $193 billion, while costing just $23 billion to $27 billion, between 1992 and 2002, a financial return of 500 to 700%.
• The environmental technology industry—spurred by environmental regulations and particularly the Clean Air Act—created 1.3 million total jobs between 1977 and 1991. Exports of environmental and pollution control technologies grew by 130 percent between 1993 and 2003, and were valued at $30 billion in 2004.

last revised 12/2/2010