TAKE ACTION: Tell the EPA to make major polluters clean up their act

 

Clean air is a right for all, not a privileged few. It’s long overdue for the worst polluters in this country to clean up their act. TAKE ACTION   The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has proposed a new “Good Neighbor Rule” which, if finalized, will deliver long overdue relief to millions of Americans who are breathing unhealthy air. This proposal requires the worst polluters to meet plant-specific pollution limits to address the longstanding issue of persistent pollution hotspots. Tell the EPA to finalize this proposed rule and ensure it covers all of the states and industries needed to secure clean air! More than 125 million people live in areas of the country where air pollution exceeds the health standard for ground-level ozone, also known as smog. Ozone is beneficial in the ozone layer but at ground level, it causes asthma attacks, lung damage, and even premature death. It also damages plant life, including forests and crops. People of color and low-income people are more likely to work and live in areas with high ozone levels and therefore suffer a disproportionate share of these harms. A major part of this problem is air pollution that’s emitted in one state and then drifts into another. Even if the downwind state wants to protect its people, they don’t have authority over upwind polluters. But the Clean Air Act has a “Good Neighbor” provision that requires the polluters in upwind states to clean up their act and requires EPA to step in if they do not. We need the EPA to enact this proposed rule and clean up the pollution from upwind states that harms people and the environment in downwind states! The rule will deliver massive benefits for public health and the environment once it’s implemented, including 1,000 avoided premature deaths annually, 1.3 million fewer asthma attacks annually, healthier forests and crops, and improved visibility in our national parks and wild places. Add your voice in advocating for this common-sense rule to tackle air pollution!   . Sincerely, Neil Gormley Senior Attorney

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