We’re sick of breathing bad air, and you should be too. For too long, Southern California has failed to meet basic public health standards for smog pollution, resulting in an increase in premature deaths and serious respiratory problems.
We're taking our clean-air message to Wilmington -- an area with some of the dirtiest air in Southern California, a place dubbed the “Island of Petroleum” by the L.A. Times -- and you're invited. The free Clean Air Health and Environmental Health Fair on Oct. 22 will highlight the problem (see below) and how you can be part of the solution.
Some facts to consider:
--The South Coast Air Quality Management District, or AQMD, has never met the Clean Air Act’s standards for smog in Southern California.
--Though progress has been made in the past three decades, bad air accounts for approximately 15 premature deaths every day in this region.
--Local asthma rates are two to three times higher than the national average.
--The Sierra Club knows that stricter air quality standards could save lives and prevent many thousands of heart attacks, emergency room visits and other health side effects as well as missed days at school and work.
What's the AQMD doing? The regional agency recently decided to roll back pollution regulations in favor of standards set by oil refineries and other polluters. Then it fired its executive officer. The Club and other environmental organizations are pushing the agency to force the biggest air polluters to clean up their act more effectively and create a plan to meet clean-air benchmarks.
Join us in the fight for clean air. Come to our Clean Air Health and Environmental Health Fair and bring your family and friends.
“I ♥ Clean Air” Yo ♥ Aire Limpio is this years’ theme for the Clean Air Environmental Fair in Wilmington. This educational and fun event is for the entire family. Come learn more ways to advocate for clean air as a community, listen to speakers, and enjoy a day out in the park listening to music powered by solar power. The Angeles Chapter has partnered with many clean air and public health advocated to bring to you the latest up to date information of the state of our air, respiratory illness education and ways to become proactive against toxic air that sis affecting of our health and of our communities.
The event will take place on Saturday October 22nd from 10am-1pm at Banning Park, which is on the corner of Eubank and Mst. Bring your family and friends and tell us how much You Love Clean Air!
Here is your opportunity to meet with clean air advocates.
Ask the Air Quality Management District how they can push for stricter air quality standards, sign up to get more information with the Sierra Club on how you can make your voice heard at the upcoming AQMD hearing. Request information from the Department of Public Health or Department of Water and Power, listen Don’t forget to stop by the Sierra Club table to get your free “I love Clean Air shirt for the first 50 people.
To find out more about how you can help clear the air, contact Angélica Gonzalez, angelica.gonzalez@sierraclub.org, (213) 387- 4287 ext. 204.
Graphic courtesy of Wendy Gutschow/Environmental Health Centers at USC.