Utah Moms for Clean Air

Check out this You-tube video, “the girl who silenced the world for five minutes” (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQmz6Rbpnu0). Poetic. Poignant. Profound.

Utah Moms for Clean Air is extremely disappointed with the EPA’s new ozone standard. In spite of overwhelming scientific evidence and the unanimous advice of its own expert panel to set a more stringent standard, the EPA chose to do otherwise. According to the Clean Air Act, the EPA’s sole consideration in setting air quality standards is the protection of the public’s health. The EPA has acted in blatant disregard of this mandate and the new standard fails to go far enough to protect the public, especially our children and those who are predisposed to respiratory illnesses.

Last summer, members of Utah Moms for Clean Air, educated hundreds of Utah’s citizens about Utah’s ozone problem, how it impacts their health, and what they can do about it. As ozone season approaches, we are readying ourselves to do this again. Yet, no matter how hard we work at educating the public, it will never be enough. Today, we needed the support of the federal government to provide an ozone standard that adequately protects the public’s health. Unfortunately, they failed us. During the recent 2008 Session of the Utah Legislature, we saw our State’s Representatives and Senators take it upon themselves to craft legislation in areas inadequately addressed by federal law. Utah Moms for Clean Air would like to call upon our State’s lawmakers to do the same in 2009, this time focusing on cleaning up our air.

Michelle Hoffman, MD, MPH
Utah Moms for Clean Air Co-Founder

***************

Press Release from American Academy of Pediatrics
March 12, 2008

EPA’S NEW OZONE STANDARD STILL LEAVES CHILDREN’S HEALTH AT RISK
Statement by American Academy of Pediatrics President Renée R. Jenkins, MD, FAAP

“The Environmental Protection Agency has missed a real opportunity to protect children’s health with today’s decision to reduce the ozone standard from its current 0.08 parts per million (ppm) to 0.075 ppm. While any reduction in air pollution is a step in the right direction, EPA’s new ozone standard—the first in a decade—fails to go far enough.

“The science is clear: Ozone pollution harms children. Critical parts of a child’s lungs don’t develop until after birth and the lungs continue to develop well into adolescence. In addition, children breathe in more air pollution than adults simply by the fact that children breathe at a more rapid rate, spend more time outdoors and have higher levels of physical activity than adults. Ozone exposure can cause short-term health problems including shortness of breath, chest pain, wheezing, coughing and inflammation of the lungs, and has been linked to such chronic health problems as asthma.

“The AAP, along with other health and environmental experts—including the EPA’s own Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee—had urged the EPA to lower the ozone standard to below 0.070 ppm at least, and preferably to 0.060 ppm. That would have, in effect, required cities across America to scrub pollutants out of the air and provide a healthier environment for children of all ages, ranging from infants with barely developed lungs taking their first breath to adolescents competing in sports.

“Our children deserve clean air. The AAP, which represents 60,000 pediatricians, will continue to advocate for lower air pollution standards so we can give our children a healthy start and a healthy future.”

# # #

The American Academy of Pediatrics is an organization of 60,000 primary care pediatricians, pediatric medical subspecialists and pediatric surgical specialists dedicated to the health, safety and well being of infants, children, adolescents and young adults.

Contact:
Macon Morehouse (202-724-3303; mmorehouse@aap.org)
Priscilla Ring (202-724-3304; pring@aap.org)

Utahns have been well-aware of mercury in our water and air since methylmercury levels in the Great Salt Lake shocked us all in 2004.

Methylmercury is the toxic form of mercury after it has been biologically transformed. It poses a public health risk, especially to children and unborn babies.

A neurotoxin, it builds up in the food chain and attacks the neurological system, causing retardation in the unborn and learning disabilities and behavioral problems in children. Humans are exposed most commonly by eating contaminated flesh, usually fish.

Utah has consumption warnings for several fish statewide and four duck species on the Great Salt Lake. Idaho has similar warnings.

Now, we are seeing action by the Nevada Department of Environmental Protection to shut down Nevada gold-ore plants until they can remove mercury from their emissions.

“This is a bold action they’ve taken,” said Cheryl Heying, director of the Utah Department of Air Quality. “It shows they have teeth, and they can bare them.”

Read more:

• “Utahns praises closure of mercury-spewing Nevada plant,” Judy Fahys, Salt Lake Tribune, March 13, 2008.

A report has found a link between breathing polluted air and lower IQs in children.   The study, published in the American Journal of Epidemiology, found that kids who live in neighborhoods with heavy traffic pollution have lower IQs and score worse on other tests of intelligence and memory than children who breathe cleaner air.  The study’s lead author reports that “The effect of pollution on intelligence was similar to that seen in children whose mothers smoked 10 cigarettes a day while pregnant, or in kids who have been exposed to lead.”  The study focused specifically on black carbon, a marker for traffic pollution.

News report available here.

Abstract of the study available here.

Rowland Hall St Mark’s and Utah Moms for Clean Air present:

“Air Quality Where Children Live and Breathe: A Focus on Schools,” a free informational lecture for parents, teachers, students, or anyone else interested in learning more about the dangers of poor air quality around schools and what you can do about it.

Topics will include basic information about the types and sources of air pollution and the health impacts for our children as well as practical solutions for schools, including idle reduction campaigns, diesel school bus improvements, and air quality education for kids.

• The lecture is free to the public.
  February 11, Monday, 7 p.m.
  McCarthey campus of Rowland Hall-St. Mark’s School
  720 Guardsman Way

For more information about Utah Moms for Clean Air, visit www.utahmomsforcleanair.org.

The EPA found that turning off school bus engines while waiting produced less pollution than idling the engine. You may have read the story about a Sandy, Utah, 6th grader who started his own no idling campaign at his school.

Most people don’t understand that they can save money and energy by turning off their engines. You can help. First, you can turn off your own engine. Then, you can start your own campaign to educate those around you. Start Your Own No Idling Campaign. If a 6th grader can do it, surely you can, too.

We have created a friendly anti-idling postcard you can hand out when you meet people sitting in cars, buses or trucks with the engine idling. There is no reason to be confrontational. Just help the driver understand the facts by handing them a postcard.

• 50% OF AIR POLLUTION IN UTAH comes from vehicle exhaust
• Studies link air pollution from vehicles to increased rates of CANCER, HEART AND LUNG DISEASES
• CHILDREN ARE MORE VULNERABLE . . . their lungs are still developing and because they breathe more rapidly they inhale more pollution than adults
• Idling is expensive and hard on your engine. . . one hour of idling burns one gallon of gasoline and gets ZERO MILES PER GALLON

Help drivers understand that they can make a difference.

• More than 10 seconds of idling consumes more fuel than restarting your engine. . . TURN IT OFF
• Modern engines need less than 30 seconds of idling before driving on winter days. . . REDUCE WARM-UP IDLING
• Talk to your family, friends, and neighbors about the benefits of reduced idling. . . SPREAD THE WORD

Don’t stop there. Gather more information for Your Own No Idling Campaign. The Environmental Protection Agency and many states have created resources and models you can follow. These are a few of the best.

EPA’s National Idle-Reduction Campaign, part of their Clean School Bus USA Campaign - sample policy, Idle-Reduction Campaign Do-it-Yourself Kit, teacher’s guide and curriculum, and other great resources

Pennsylvania Clean Air Council - details of their School Bus Anti-idling Campaign, success stories, and great resources

Idle-Free Vermont - Explicit step-by-step instructions for creating your own no idling campaign

Vermont 10% Challenge (scroll a bit to reach “No-Idling Campaign) - information, brochure, flyer, sample policy

If you start Your Own No Idling Campaign, let us know. We’ll encourage other Utahns by telling them your story.

Tonight at midnight the public comment period for the Mountian View Corridor freeway closes.  If you haven’t done so already, please contact UDOT and let them know that you are concerned about the location of the proposed freeway and the lack of real public transit.

 The preferred alternative set out in the draft Environmental Impact Statement places the six-to-eight lane freeway within 500 meters of four schools; in fact three of those four schools are within 500 feet of the freeway!  Scientific studies show that attending school at such close proximity to a freeway is associated with serious health problems in children, including asthma, lung development problems, and even childhood cancer.   This location must be reconsidered, and any highway must be moved away from those children to a safer location.

We are also concerned that the plan does not call for any real public transit in the corridor for decades.  We believe that putting mass transit, such as light rail, into that end of the valley first will drive developemnt patterns in ways that will improve the air quality along the entire Wasatch Front.

To submit your comments please send an email to:   mountainview@utah.gov or mvcespanol@utah.gov

or go to the UDOT website and enter them into their form.

Thanks for taking action!!

In her Dec 16th column in the Salt Lake Tribune, Rebecca Walsh wrote, “Breathe in those diesel fumes, kids: Schools, highways don’t mix.” She provided an interesting overview of the health effects when children live and go to school near highways, an issue Salt Lake and Davis County residents have struggled with recently.

• “Breathe in those diesel fumes, kids: Schools, highways don’t mix,” Rebecca Walsh, Salt Lake Tribune, December 16, 2007.