Bad Air and Bad Policy

The Environmental Protection Agency announced this week that nearly 100 million Americans in 243 counties are breathing polluted air. Soot and other chemical particulates cause an array of respiratory illnesses and can even lead to premature death. While environmental and health advocates have called for a 90 percent reduction in emissions from power plants and other polluting sources by 2010, the Bush administration is calling for a mere 40 percent reduction over the next decade.

• Air and other toxic pollution is on the rise. The EPA's own analysis reveals that industry released 5 percent more toxic chemicals into the environment in 2002 than in the previous year. But given past industry deceptions and underreporting of bad behavior, the increase is likely much greater. The Environmental Integrity Project estimates "that polluters were releasing four to five times more toxic material than they reported," much of it ending up in our air.
• The Bush administration's "Clear Skies" initiative is a deceptive plan that will allow more toxins into our nation's air. The "Clear Skies" initiative is designed to amend the Clean Air Act, but will actually undermine efforts to produce cleaner air. As NRDC reports," compared to current law, the Clear Skies plan would allow three times more toxic mercury emissions, 50 percent more sulfur emissions, and hundreds of thousands more tons of smog-forming nitrogen oxides."
• The impact of air pollution is not a myth – it can lead to premature death, severe health problems, acid rain and global warming. Air pollution is proven to shorten lives and trigger major respiratory problems including asthma which now afflicts millions of Americans. Toxins can travel miles in the air and fall back to the ground as "acid rain," potentially damaging our forests, rivers, and food supply. And carbon dioxide emissions from power plants and other sources are the primary cause of global warming that may have major effects on weather patterns and habitats over the next few decades.

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