The Clean Air Act has been a standard for successful public health policy for more than 40 years. Signed into law by President Nixon with strong bipartisan support for decades, this law has helped keep the air we breathe free from pollution.
Just last year , the law protected American families from 1.7 million asthma attacks, 130,000 heart attacks and 86,000 emergency room visits.
Despite the Environmental Protection Agency's best efforts, in New Mexico alone, over 170,000 residents still suffer from asthma, and over 47,000 of those are children. Thousands also suffer from other respiratory illnesses.
Given those statistics, some might find it hard to believe that there's a movement afoot on Capitol Hill to roll back these important protections on air quality -- to protect polluters, not people.
The House budget bill calls for the removal of important regulations already in place, putting hundreds of thousands of New Mexicans at greater risk from pollution from power plants, oil refineries, and cement kilns.
This is a step backward, not forward, and I recently took to the Senate floor to defend the Clean Air Act. You can watch that video above.
Yesterday, I also joined 18 senators to express this concern to President Obama and today I co-sponsored a resolution reaffirming the authority of the Clean Air Act.
The Clean Air Act has cut six major pollutants by over 40 percent, but air pollution still claims 70,000 lives per year, three times that of car accidents. If we weaken the Act, unfortunately that number will rise.
It also protects pregnant mothers and developing children from mercury, a neuro-toxin that creates problems in brain development, including attention and memory problems.
Mercury comes out of smoke stacks into the air, deposits into our water, and is also consumed in the fish that we eat.
Overall, the House Continuing Resolution undermines the Clean Air Act, leading to more pollution, asthma, hospital visits, and less healthy children.
It's no surprise that there is widespread opposition to efforts to roll back this important law's protections:
1,882 Doctors, Nurses and Health Professionals:
"Please fulfill the promise of clean, healthy air for all Americans to breathe. Support full implementation of the Clean Air Act and resist any efforts to weaken, delay or block progress toward a healthier future for all Americans."
"These provisions and others adopted by the House of Representatives in H.R.1 would result in millions of Americans-including children, seniors, and people with chronic disease such as asthma-being forced to breathe air that is unhealthy. Breathing air pollution can cause asthma attacks, heart attacks, strokes, cancer and shorten lives."
American Public Health Association:
"Attempts to remove protections already in place must be stopped. The public health community is very concerned about the long-term health consequences of global climate change. Blocking EPA's authority to reduce carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases could mean the difference between chronic debilitating illness or a healthy life."
"The potential consequences for public health are grave because the Clean Air Act protects the most vulnerable populations-those with asthma and other lung disease, children, older adults, and people with heart disease and diabetes-from the dangers of pollution...The science says carbon pollution is bad for our health. Rolling back EPA's ability to protect the public from this threat literally has life and death stakes."
The Environmental Protection Agency needs to be able to do its job. That's what I believe and that's what I've been hearing from New Mexicans.
These standards are designed to reduce pollution, not put industrial facilities out of business.
Powerful Washington interest groups are lobbying for these public health rollbacks, but I believe most New Mexico businesses want to do the right thing and protect public health in our state. New Mexico has made good progress since the enactment of the Clean Air standards in 1970 and 1990 in growing our economy while reducing pollution, without sacrificing one for the other.
America's environmental laws are public health laws. A step backward like this is irresponsible and unacceptable.
