The thousands of Nebraskans suffering from asthma will receive little relief from the EPA’s new national smog standard. While the EPA made small improvements by lowering acceptable smog levels from 75 parts per billion (ppb) to 70 ppb, the agency left many health benefits on the table. Previous modeling of smog pollution health effects in 12 U.S. cities found that lowering the level from 70 ppb to 60 ppb would save four to five times as many lives. In response, Graham Jordison, Organizing Representative with the Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal campaign in Nebraska released the following statement:
“Today, the EPA let down Nebraskan families that struggle with asthma. While the EPA’s announcement brings us one modest step closer to ensuring cleaner, healthier air for Nebraskan families, it is abundantly clear that we must do better to keep our towns healthy and safe. We know that the big polluters responsible for smog pollution have fought these protections tooth and nail as they always do. As communities continue to fight for their clean air, we hope local leaders will instead listen to the doctors, nurses and teachers who know that smog pollution robs hundreds of thousands of Americans with asthma and other respiratory diseases of their quality of life. We will continue to demand that our leaders protect air for all Nebraska residents and keep our air and water safe.”
The Sierra Club (www.sierraclub.org) is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with more than 2.4 million members and supporters.