The outbreak of COVID-19 has already had an incredibly detrimental impact on the health and safety of Massachusetts residents, especially those with asthma or other pre-existing respiratory conditions. A new study has shown that COVID-19 patients exposed to higher levels of air pollution are 15% more likely to die than those who live in less polluted areas.
At a time when many of us are focused on staying safe, the Trump administration is using this pandemic as a cover to push his dangerous deregulatory agenda and allow even more pollution into our communities. One of his most dangerous attacks yet is a rollback of clean car standards, which will effectively allow billions of tons of additional carbon dioxide into the air.
In the first phase of this rollback last September, the Trump administration revoked a long-standing Clean Air Act waiver, which allowed California to set emission standards stronger than federal standards, as well as adopt a zero emission vehicle program. This had widespread implications, including right here in Massachusetts. 14 other states - including Massachusetts - and the District of Columbia have adopted stronger standards under this waiver in order to protect their residents from toxic air pollution.
The second and most recent phase of the rollback weakens the Obama-era target of 5 percent annual efficiency improvements to just 1.5 percent. In Massachusetts and across the nation, transportation is the largest and fastest growing source of greenhouse gas pollution. The original standards are America’s most ambitious policies to combat climate change.
They save us money on fuel and they are crucial to protecting our health. They work, and yet in the midst of a pandemic, the administration pushed forward with a rollback that is estimated to produce 1.5 billion metric tons of climate pollution, result in over 18,000 additional premature deaths, contribute to one million lost work days, and increase fuel costs by over $240 billion.
There is no justification for this that makes sense. What’s at stake for all of us, and especially our most vulnerable communities, cannot be understated. Research shows that air pollution can cause or worsen asthma, a major concern for Massachusetts where we have two cities among the top ten asthma capitals in the entire nation (Springfield at #1 and Boston at #8). With Massachusetts having a higher prevalence of asthma rates among adults than anywhere else in the U.S., reducing transportation emissions is crucial to the health of residents.
Weakening emissions standards will disproportionately impact already vulnerable communities and exacerbate existing inequities. Studies find that low-income and communities of color in Massachusetts tend to be exposed to higher levels of air pollution from cars, trucks, and buses than white communities, putting them at greater risk.
As a result of exposure to air pollution and long-term disinvestment in the overall health of African American communities, the coronavirus has been particularly fatal for African American patients, who are dying at higher rates from COVID-19 complications.
Right now, we must strengthen measures that protect public health, lessen the climate emergency, and save the American people money. We need bold solutions that right long-standing inequities. We cannot afford to move backward on clean air standards. It is more important now than ever as we face this crisis that threatens our public health and economy that we come together to protect each other and our nation’s future.
Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey has already pledged to sue the Trump administration over its “illegal and environmentally destructive rollback,” claiming there is “no legitimate scientific, economic, or environmental justification.” She’s not alone; Massachusetts makes up one of the twenty-three states and the District of Columbia, representing about half of US residents, that sued over the Clean Air Act waiver revocation.
We must stand for science and listen to health experts. We must urge automakers, such as General Motors and Toyota, to drop their support of these dangerous rollbacks. We must encourage more groups and states to join the already massive coalition against these rollbacks. We cannot stand by as the Trump administration acts directly against the interest of the American people yet again.
Tara McElhinney is a conservation scientist, environmental advocate and volunteer with the Sierra Club from Sandwich, MA.