December 22, 2014
By Gretchen Waddell Barwick, Chapter Staff
“Clean air is important to me because we all breathe. Every single one of us in this room is breathing right now,” stated Cymone Turner. Cymone is a student and Sierra Club member who attended the Missouri Air Conservation Commission (MACC) meeting in Kansas City on September 25. Activists turned in more than 250 petitions asking for the MACC to take action immediately on toxic Sulfur Dioxide (SO2) Air Pollution.
SO2 causes breathing problems in as few as five minutes, is particularly dangerous to older adults, children and asthmatics. Downtown Kansas City has been designated as a nonattainment area, an area having hazardously high levels of SO2 air pollution, by the Missouri Department of Natural Resources and the Environmental Protection Agency.
KC is already seeing the effects of SO2 pollution—Jackson County has one of the highest rates of asthmarelated Emergency Room visits and hospitalizations in the state. However, some populations feel these effects more than others. The majority of people living in the non-attainment area are people of color. Black and Hispanic populations experience shocking health disparities in our state, particularly asthma and heart disease which are associated with SO2 air pollution.
Cymone is right: We all deserve clean air. We all breathe. The time to act is now.
To volunteer or learn more about SO2 pollution, contact Gretchen Waddell Barwick (800) 628-5333 or by email at gretchen.waddellbarwick@sierraclub.org.