Today, Earthjustice representing American Lung Association, Sierra Club, Natural Resources Defense Council, and Physicians for Social Responsibility filed court papers to oppose a major coal company’s challenge to stronger national ozone standards adopted last month. Ozone, the primary constituent of smog, causes asthma attacks and other respiratory problems that can keep kids from school and adults from work and send them to the hospital. It is also linked to premature death. The EPA’s new standards were years overdue, and though they are weaker than the science-backed standards called for by medical experts, they are more protective than the standards they replaced and will help prevent many hundreds of hospital visits, asthma attacks, and deaths.
Statement from David Baron, Managing Attorney Earthjustice:
“Ozone is dangerous to kids, seniors, and asthmatics. Although the new anti-smog standards don’t go far enough, they will provide important additional protection to millions of Americans. Attempts to weaken these standards are baseless.”
Statement from Catherine Thomasson, MD, PSR’s Executive Director:
“We support EPA strengthening ozone health protections, despite the weakness of the final standard. Communities around the country deserve further protections and continued progress toward clean air. EPA’s decision to strengthen ozone standards and to further protect the public’s health and welfare is necessary. But it’s being placed in jeopardy by industry’s attempts to block the new standards. That’s why PSR has joined Earthjustice and other environmental and public health groups to intervene in any industry lawsuits which seek to weaken the standard.”
PSR is a physician-led organization that has worked for more than 50 years to create a healthy world for both present and future generations by giving voice to the values and expertise of medicine and public health. We have members across the U.S., many of whom are medical or health care professionals. Among our members are those who live and work in areas (such as Cincinnati, Baltimore, San Francisco, Oakland and Detroit) with ozone levels above the 70 ppb level that Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) adopted as a new standard in 2015. (PSR sought a level of 60 parts per billion (ppb), as opposed to the 70 ppb that was finalized by EPA)
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