Bad news for the air we breathe, and us
Have you ever watched someone you love suffer – or even lose their life – to lung disease? Whether it’s lung cancer, COPD or asthma – it is heartbreaking to watch a person you love struggle for each breath.
That’s why the Trump Administration’s recent decision to allow more air pollution in the form of greenhouse gases is perplexing public health experts around the country.
This week’s reversal of a landmark 2009 endangerment finding — put into place after six greenhouse gases were found to endanger current and future generations — will remove the legal basis for regulating greenhouse gas emissions from cars, trucks, and other sectors under the Clean Air Act.
To put it simply, it will become much easier for corporations to pollute in the U.S. and to create products that create more pollution.
While selling vehicles with fewer pollution protections may seem economically smart in the short-term, it’s projected to cost the U.S. big in the end, potentially costing billions in health and economic savings (in addition to higher fuel costs due to reduced gas mileage).
In fact, early projections conclude that reversing the endangerment finding will cause 15,400 to 58,000 additional premature deaths by 2055 due to increased air pollution, particularly due to rolling back standards on fine particulate matter, known as PM 2.5 or soot, and smog.
PM 2.5 is notoriously harmful not just to the lungs, but all human body systems, because it infiltrates deep into the lungs and readily circulates throughout the body, causing widespread inflammation and damage. Hundreds of high-quality studies link PM 2.5 pollution to lung cancer, asthma, COPD, early death, Alzheimer’s disease, chronic kidney disease, type 2 diabetes, Parkinson’s disease, miscarriage, birth defects and developmental issues in children.
Because the science about greenhouse gas-related air pollution and human health is so robust, the American Lung Association, the American Public Health Association, the Alliance for Nurses for Healthy Environments and Physicians for Social Responsibility have promised to, as organizations committed to protecting public health, “challenge this unlawful repeal.”
If the reversal stands, the U.S. is projected to suffer $170 to $500 billion in health harms by 2055, including an increase in 9 to 37 million asthma attacks and 26,000 to 92,000 emergency room and hospital visits, which will contribute to the estimated 5 to 15 million lost school and workdays.
Broken down by state, Environmental Defense Fund projections show that Pennsylvania is projected to experience nearly $57 billion in increased fuel costs due to reduced vehicle greenhouse gas emission standards and more than $12 billion in increased health costs.
With the science on greenhouse gas pollution so clear — and the health risks so thoroughly outlined through decades of research — will Americans put political loyalty aside and stand up for clean air? Or will we have to watch more loved ones unnecessarily die from pollution-triggered lung cancer, COPD, heart attacks and strokes?
Take a deep breath and think about that.