Asthma Mercury Forests Transit Georiga Main   More Communities 2002 Report   When Sherry DeRosa moved from the Gulf Coast of Mississippi to the northern edge of Metro Atlanta four years ago, she had already been diagnosed with asthma. But since she's lived in Georgia, it's gotten much worse. Instead of spices in her spice rack, Sherry keeps her family's staggering collection of medication there. The DeRosas love the outdoors and feel very settled in Georgia, but Sherry admits, "If my husband was offered a transfer to somewhere with cleaner air, we'd probably choose to move." Photo: Sherry DeRosa and her daughter Sarah have come to know their local paramedics on a first-name basis, having both been rushed to the ER by ambulance in severe respiratory distress.

How The Bush Administration's Policies Harm Georgia Communities There Is a Better Way to Protect Georgia's Families and Communities Print this report! (pdf file) Georgia is blessed with abundant, beautiful, and diverse natural resources. Regardless of the season or region, Georgians enjoy a special relationship with our natural heritage. We know that protecting our state's natural resources and beauty makes Georgia's economy stronger and our families healthier. From the Okeefenokee Swamp to the treasured longleaf pines in Southwest Georgia, from the farms in the southeast to the headwaters of the Chattahoochee River, Georgia's natural assets have always been important to our residents and civic leaders. Today, however, our state's treasured environment has been put at risk. Bush administration policies that weaken and ignore federal environmental safeguards are already harming our communities' health and our natural heritage. The Bush administration is allowing the electric companies, chemical companies, coal companies, and other industries to weaken the laws and regulations that protect the health and safety of Georgia's families, enabling corporations to benefit at our expense. The administration has encouraged the creation of more coal-burning power plants across the country instead of requiring states to build cleaner facilities which rely on renewable power generation. The administration has also opened up millions of acres of public land to environmentally destructive activities, blocked plans to protect the last wild areas of our national forests from development, and increased the risk of mercury poisoning for Georgia's women and children. The administration's undermining of our nation's most basic environmental protections leaves the people of Georgia exposed and vulnerable to increased amounts of asthma-triggering smog, development-retarding mercury, and other contaminants. Encouraging the creation of more highways instead of cleaner public transportation alternatives puts our citizens-especially children and the elderly-at risk. This report documents the consequences of Bush administration actions-and lack of action-on the health and safety of families in communities across Georgia. It also serves to remind us what we have learned over the last thirty years-that there is a better way; that we have the know-how and a successful track record cleaning up the pollution in our air and water and the poisons in our soil. But know-how, effective laws, and proven technological solutions are clearly not enough when the Bush administration is determined to let corporations off the hook, weaken the regulations that reduce pollution, and strip funding from the agencies responsible for enforcing environmental laws and the programs proven to protect our health and safety. Only public pressure on policy makers will ensure that the last three decades' of progress is not lost, and that we instead continue to keep our communities safe, protecting our children's legacy of clean air, water, and still-wild lands. Up to Top HOME | Email Signup | About Us | Contact Us | Terms of Use | © 2008 Sierra Club