Brian Willis: 202.253.7486, Brian.Willis@sierraclub.org
WASHINGTON, D.C. - At the request of the Trump EPA, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals this evening suspended proceedings in a lawsuit over stronger clean air protections against smog pollution to give Trump’s EPA Administrator time to decide whether to rewrite them. The court’s decision was issued over strong objections to the delay from environmental and public health groups, which accused the Trump administration of trying to use a pause in the lawsuit as a stepping stone to weaken smog standards that protect Americans from dangerous respiratory conditions like severe asthma attacks, bronchitis, and emphysema.
In October of 2015, the EPA belatedly strengthened the nationwide smog pollution standards from 75 parts per billion to 70 parts per billion (ppb) following 9 years of scientific review and expert testimony from medical experts and public health advocates. The ever-growing body of scientific literature demonstrated the significant harm the 75 ppb standard posed to public health, particularly to vulnerable populations like children, seniors, and people with severe respiratory illnesses.
According to the American Lung Association (ALA), inhaling smog pollution is like getting a sunburn on your lungs and often results in immediate trouble breathing. Exposure to smog pollution is linked to chronic respiratory conditions like asthma attacks, and reproductive and developmental disorders. It also disproportionately harms low-income communities and communities of color, who are more likely to live close to sources of pollution and have lower levels of access to medical resources and health insurance.
In response to this evening’s court decision, Mary Anne Hitt, Director of Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal campaign, released the following statement:
“We will not stand by as Trump’s polluter-backed EPA Administrator dismantles bedrock clean air protections that keep our kids out of emergency rooms and hold polluters accountable for the filth they try and spew into our neighborhoods.
“Especially in low-income communities and communities of color, these efforts to undermine our clean air safeguards will only make many bad situations worse since these communities already face disproportionately dangerous levels of air pollution.
“Following this evening’s ruling, we will fiercely resist any efforts to weaken the existing smog standards. EPA’s decision to strengthen the Bush-era standard was backed by the findings of tenured medical scientists and doctors who know the real dangers of weak safeguards against smog pollution. Clearly, the Trump administration would rather pad polluter profits than protect the most vulnerable people in our society from the most dangerous pollution, so we intend to keep up the fight in the courts to protect every community in the country.”