Last winter and spring, EPA issued final rules for new standards for air pollution and greenhouse gases (GHG). All of the rules will protect health by lowering air pollution and fighting climate change which is the number one threat to health for people alive now, especially children.
In response, senators and representatives who favor fossil fuels introduced Congressional Review Act bills (CRA) to repeal these health protecting rules, which favors an industry that has enormous profits while causing enormous amounts of health damage.
The GOOD NEWS is: The deadline to pass a CRA for some of the new rules has passed, and the CRA bills for the rest of the rules look like they are stalled and will not pass. Hooray! Healthier Air for us, and we can all thrive!
Two of the most important rules from this spring are the methane leak rule and the PM2.5 pollution standard.
* The methane leak rule requires gas producers to look for leaks, and fix them quickly. They also have to stop flaring and have to fix old wells that are leaking. Since methane is such a strong GHG in its first 20 years in the air, this will really do a lot to slow down climate change.
* EPA lowered the annual PM2.5 standard from 12.0 to 9.0. This will prevent a lot of strokes, heart attacks, dementia, lung disease, COPD and asthma attacks, and some kinds of cancer. It is so good for health. It will also boost the economy because workers will work better, they won’t have so many sick days, and it will help increase crop yields.
Read about all the recent EPA rules that improve health here.
#HealthyAirIsHealthCare #WeAllThriveWithHealthyAir
