by Katy Farber, guest blogger at Moms Clean Air Force

Have you ever wondered how the Clean Air Act protects the health of the people in your state? Find out with this tool from the EPA. You’ll see why the Clean Air Act is so important to the health of your friends, neighbors and family.

The Clean Air Act is one of the most successful public health policies of all time.

This is legislation that literally saves lives. It promotes public health – lessening the spending of health care dollars, and increasing human productivity. Imagine that.

In 2010 alone, reductions in fine particle and ozone pollution under the Clean Air Act prevented an estimated:

*160,000 cases of premature mortality

*130,000 heart attacks

*86,000 hospital visits

*13 million lost work days

*1.7 million asthma attacks

Those numbers can be a lot to take in…and a lot to imagine. Bringing these facts and data home can make it more meaningful in terms of how the actions of our leaders are fundamentally affecting the health of our fellow Americans.

Air Pollution In My State of Vermont

In my home state of Vermont, we have no active coal-fired power plants. That does not mean we are immune to the devastating toxic effects of this polluting industry. Pollution knows no state boundaries, and our neighboring state of New Hampshire was named a top 10 toxic state for air pollution recently by the NRDC.

How does this impact us? Every body of water in the state of Vermont has a mercury warning. It’s not advised for people, especially pregnant women, to eat fish from Lake Champlain.

That’s why the The Cross State Pollution Rule, recently released this fall, is crucial. According to the EPA:

“The Cross-State Air Pollution Rule (CSAPR) will help ensure that Vermont families aren’t suffering the consequences of harmful air pollution generated far from home. The rule, which goes into effect on March 1, 2013, slashes millions of tons of smokestack pollution that can lead to premature death, heart attacks, bronchitis and asthma.”

This rule will improve air quality in Vermont and prevent up to 44 fewer premature deaths each year.

Here’s the significant health care dollar savings (which unfortunately seem more important to many than the number of lives saved):

Vermont would save between $140 million and $360 million each year.

The CSAPR is in the cross hairs of big industry, the Republican presidential candidates, and many corporate, big oil lobbyists. But in my state of Vermont, this rule would save 44 lives each year…

44 Vermonters would continue living in our great state.
44 fellow Vermonters would see another beautiful fall, rant about the snow totals and ice storms, feel the relief and verdant beauty of spring, and bask in another short but life affirming summer.
How can anyone put a value on that?

The Mercury Air Toxics Rule, once in place, would start to turn back the toxic effects of mercury in our area. As a result of this rule, we would see less contamination of our waters, our foods, and our babies.

Would that mean that my children could fish from Vermont’s streams and rivers? Would that mean they wouldn’t have to worry about the effect of mercury on their children?

What are these things worth to you…to your friends, neighbors and families living in your state? What do you have to gain from supporting the Clean Air Act? What do you have to lose if we let it crumble?

Check out the public health benefits of the Clean Air Act in your state and please join the Moms Clean Air Force to protect your friends, neighbors, and family members from the hazards of polluted air.

By Lamar and Ronnie Tyler

Life is not fair. Some people are born with great advantages and others are born with major disadvantages. This is a fact of life that we are faced with from birth…and one that African Americans are all too familiar with.

Being disproportionally affected by diseases, unemployment, divorce, crime, failing education systems (the list goes on and on) are facts that African Americans live with every day. And if you didn’t know it, you need to add air pollution to that list too.

The report, Air of Injustice, describes how African Americans are disproportionately affected by the air pollution from our nation’s power plants. It also describes the relationship between the poisonous toxins that these plants are emitting and the many environmental health issues that African Americans are faced with such as Asthma and infant deaths.

In the report, Air of Injustice, you find that nearly 68% of African Americans live near power plants.

“African Americans are more likely to suffer health effects from air pollution. The reason has much to do with where we live. African Americans are far more likely to live near power plants and power plant waste sites. Living near these sites increases our likelihood of exposure and health risk. Also, more than half of all African Americans live in areas with air quality that doesn’t meet federal standards.”

Coal-fired power plants emit some of the most toxic pollutants into the air, such as mercury. These pollutants go from the air to the rivers, and eventually to the fish and other seafood that we eat. By the way, per the Air of Injustice:

“One-third of African Americans are avid anglers, and we eat fish more often and in larger portions than whites. Consequently, we have higher exposure to mercury.”

Exposure to mercury and other pollutants can lead to cancer, brain damage, birth defects… you name it (almost all parts of the body can be affected by mercury.) And to make matters worse, young children and fetuses are more vulnerable to the effects of these pollutants than adults. Have you ever wondered why pregnant women are advised to cut down their intake on some types of fish? If you guessed because of mercury, you are right.

Check out this Mom’s Clean Air Force post that gives an excellent summary and illustration of How Mercury Poisoning works. And please, make your voice heard to STOP the TRAIN Act that would delay instituting Cross-State Air Pollution Regulations and Mercury and Air Toxics Standards for power plants.

If you continue to read the report, you will see other statistics that show African Americans are 3 times more likely to be hospitalized from Asthma than Caucasians. And we are 2 times more likely to die from Asthma than them as well.

Those facts are certainly disheartening. But what do you do when life is unfair? Do you whine about it? No! Do you walk around playing the victim? No! What you should do is:

Take Responsibility – find out what you are doing to contribute to the situation.

Take Action – there are simple things that you can do now to clean up the air around you.

If you’ve never considered the affect that air pollution has on your family and your community, you can no longer say that you didn’t know. Now use that information as power. Start now before it’s too late!

PLEASE GET INVOLVED IN THE FIGHT FOR OUR RIGHT TO BREATHE CLEAN AIR.

CONTACT UTAH MOMS FOR CLEAN AIR TO SUPPORT LOCAL EFFORTS AND JOIN MOMS CLEAN AIR FORCE TO SUPPORT NATIONAL EFFORTS.

TOGETHER, WE WILL REGAIN THE RIGHT WE ALL SHARE TO BREATH CLEAN AIR.

Thank you Lamar and Ronnie for this excellent review!
Read more: http://www.care2.com/greenliving/life-is-unfair-when-it-comes-to-clean-air.html#ixzz1ZpZhN3Qn