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If you have a child with asthma, you know how frightening the disease can be.
There are few things worse for a parent than having to watch as your child fights to breathe in the middle of the night.
Asthma is the nation’s fastest growing chronic diseases, affecting 22 million Americans. More than 4,000 die every year from the disease, which also causes some 1.8 million emergency room visits.
But even as scientists struggle to understand what’s causing this epidemic, one thing is certain: air pollution plays a critical role.
Most air pollution comes either from car and truck exhaust or coal-burning power plants. Smog and soot (fine particles from burning oil or coal) from these sources aggravate asthma and trigger attacks.
There is also evidence that ozone, a main ingredient in smog, and soot from diesel exhaust may even cause asthma in some cases.
In recent years, EPA has placed stricter pollution controls on power plants, cars and trucks. These measures have reduced asthma rates in many places around the country.
Unfortunately, the latest studies show that smog and soot harms our health at lower concentrations than was previously thought.
And, almost forty years after the passage of the Clean Air Act, more than half of all Americans still live in areas that don't meet clean air standards.
The big industrial polluters and their political allies are waging a take-no-prisoners campaign to gut the Clean Air Act and shackle the Environmental Protection Agency.
Our legal team is defending EPA clean air rules in the courts, and our scientists and policy experts are working to stem the asthma epidemic by pushing for strong anti-pollution laws and regulations.
For example, we helped convince the Obama administration to substantially reduce mercury pollution –a prime culprit in childhood asthma and other illnesses from power plants.
The new mercury rule will help prevent 130,000 asthma attacks each year, and 4,700 heart attacks.
The big polluters, their lobbyists and their political allies won’t quit. But EDF has helped lead the fight for clean air for over four decades.
We’ve made great progress in that time, but much more is needed to safeguard every American’s right to clean air.
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