Breathing deep - not always a good idea

 

This is a sobering report.

More Than a Third of All Americans Live in Communities with ‘Hazardous’ Air, Lung Association Finds

In its annual “State of the Air” report, the group noted that while poor air quality is pervasive, communities of color are more than twice as likely to experience the worst impacts.

“We’ve seen the Environmental Protection Agency finalize a number of new standards to clean up the air pollution and address climate change, with more on the way,” said Bender.

“We’ve seen the tighter particulate matter standard. We’ve seen strong measures to reduce emissions from future cars and future trucks. We’ve seen measures to reduce methane and volatile organic compounds from the oil and gas industry,” she said. “And we’re calling on the administration to get across the finish line to more items on their to-do list.”

Bender said that the association hopes that the EPA will update the national ozone standard, which has not been revised since 2015.

“Sometimes people don’t realize that poor air can affect them pretty drastically,” said Amit “Bobby” Mahajan, a national spokesperson for the Lung Association. “We know that there are asthma attacks, heart attacks and strokes, but we also see increases in preterm birth, cognitive impairment and development of lung cancers in individuals who have high exposure to ozone and particle pollution."

Remember, electing Convicted Felon Donald J. Trump would negate any advances on this issue for years.