The Clean Air Act will have saved Americans roughly $2 trillion by 2020 and prevented as many as 230,000 premature American deaths in that year alone due to asthma, heart disease, and other illnesses caused by air pollution, according to a new report released today by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The report comes as the EPA and Administrator Lisa Jackson faces increasing attack from the oil and coal industries and their allies for the agency’s role in protecting Americans from air and water pollution.
View the new report here.
Statement of Sierra Club Executive Director Michael Brune:
“Every single American benefits from clean air. The Clean Air Act has saved millions of Americans from heart attacks, asthma, and other life-threatening illnesses. Without the Clean Air Act, Americans would be spending trillions of dollars on lost work days and health care costs.
“Keeping polluters in check is not just good for our children’s lungs – it’s good for our economy. Cleaner air means better health and productivity for American workers and less money wasted on health care for illness caused by pollution.
“Unfortunately, the oil and coal industries are working to eliminate the basic protections that for decades have kept deadly pollution out of the air we breathe. The oil and coal industries care more about breaking new profit records than about keeping American families from getting sick.
“Common-sense updates to our clean air standards promotes innovation, creates jobs and revitalizes our economy while protecting public health and reducing premature deaths in American adults and infants.”
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