Today in Washington, DC, and Arlington, Texas, hundreds of Americans will testify in support of strong Environmental Protection Agency standards for ozone -- also known as smog. I'm testifying in Washington and wanted to share my testimony here:
EPA Hearing: Ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standards
January 29, 2015
Washington, DC
On behalf of the Sierra Club and our 2.4 million members and supporters, I want to thank EPA for proposing to strengthen the ambient air quality standard for ground level ozone, otherwise known as smog, and for providing us with this opportunity to comment. The Sierra Club is calling on EPA to finalize a standard of 60 parts per billion (ppb), because the medical science is clear - that's the level that's needed to protect human health.
My name is Mary Anne Hitt, and I am the director of the Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal Campaign. I'm also the mom of a four year old. And as a mom, I count on accurate labels to keep my family safe, whether it's the expiration date on a milk carton or the SPF on my sunscreen. The same holds true for EPA’s code red and orange alerts, which warn vulnerable people to stay indoors when smog levels become dangerous. They're considered the gold standard on air quality by news organizations, school boards, and other community organizations tasked with informing people about the safety of the air outside.
Unfortunately, EPA's current code red and orange air pollution alerts aren't giving families accurate information about whether our air is safe to breathe. That's because those alerts are based on outdated medical science. As it turns out, it takes a lot less smog to threaten your health than scientists previously understood. That means updating our smog standards is a matter of life and death, especially for our kids.
EPA's own medical science advisors are clear - ozone levels of 60 ppb are dangerous, and can trigger life-threatening health problems, like asthma attacks. But our current ozone standard is set much higher, at 75 ppb. So even when air alerts give parents the all clear, kids could still be breathing in dangerous levels of pollution.
By relying on alerts that are tied to the old 75 ppb standard, parents and teachers may be sending asthmatic kids outside to play trusting that the air is safe, only to have to rush them to the emergency room, thanks to dangerous ozone levels that aren't picked up by EPA's alerts. It's time to update our ozone standard and protect our families.
As you know, asthma is the number one health problem that causes American children to miss school, and it costs taxpayers tens of billions of dollars each year in missed work and health care costs. In response to EPA's proposal to update this standard, polluters are once again trotting out the same, tired old arguments that this proposal will be too costly. But the reality is, regular Americans are the ones paying the cost of smog today, through our hospital bills, expensive medications, health insurance premiums, and the lost opportunities that come with illness.
A 60 ppb standard would reflect the most accurate medical science on lung safety. It would empower communities to make sound decisions about the safety of outdoor events - like sports games, carnivals, and fairs - that can expose us all to dangerous pollution. Parents and caretakers of the elderly will especially benefit, since it will allow them to better protect their vulnerable loved ones. We will all breathe easier.
I encourage you to set an ozone standard of 60 ppb. The American people shouldn't have to wait any longer for action on cleaning up the smog.