Atlanta Journal Constitution
March 7, 2014
Letter to the Editor by Laura Turner Seydel
View the original: http://www.ajc.com/news/news/opinion/readers-write/nd6PM/
Where you live can have a tremendous impact on your health. Approximately 40 percent of the urban population across the country lives in close proximity to a major roadway, like I-285. As co-founder of Mothers & Others for Clean Air, a program of the American Lung Association in Georgia, I’ve known that this near constant exposure to passing vehicle emissions threatens human health, especially in children, older adults and people with diabetes, lung and heart disease.
This traffic pollution burden will get lighter soon thanks to new air quality safeguards the EPA just adopted that will cleanup gasoline and reduce tailpipe emissions. Cleaner gasoline alone cuts traffic pollution as much as if we took 33 million cars off the road, and will prevent 19,000 asthma attacks and spare 2,000 lives every year.
The president and EPA deserve our praise for taking this necessary action to safeguard public health that will benefit generations to come.
