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.
Most Americans want the EPA to keep on doing that job, according to a September 2010 Infogroup/ORC survey which found that “[m]ore than four out of five Americans (82 percent) support the work of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, with 45 percent supporting it strongly compared to only 9 percent who strongly oppose it.”
Despite the successes, there is more to do. According to the American Lung Association, "over 175 million people—roughly 58 percent—still suffer pollution levels that are too often dangerous to breathe."
That's why it is so important that the US EPA put forward strong new standards to protect our health from toxic smog pollution. It isn't just NRDC that thinks so.
Nearly 70 groups - national and local - are joining together today calling for the EPA to issue the stronger standards needed to protect public health (see the joint ad below.)
As Charles D. Connor, President and CEO of the American Lung Association, puts it:
"It is critically important that EPA strengthen the ozone standard to protect millions of Americans who are currently exposed to unsafe levels of toxic ozone. This is an important step towards safer and healthier air across the United States."
You can add your voice by letting EPA administrator LIsa Jackson know that you support stronger standards too, by taking action right here.
As I've mentioned before, stronger standards will prevent as many as
- 12,000 deaths,
- 58,000 asthma attacks,
- 21,000 hospital and emergency room visits,
- 5,300 heart attacks,
- 420,000 missed work days and
- 2,100,000 missed school days
annually.
Clean air is something we can't afford to live without. Help make sure we get it - take action today.