Clean Air: Just What the Dr. Ordered
What is the U.S government doing to stop air pollution?
Post by Woodnyet » Fri Dec 10, 2010
Source: BurningIssues.org
Public health and medical organizations are urging Congress to support the experts at the US Environmental Protection Agency who are working to update the safeguards that protect public health from pollution, and to resist pressure from polluters trying to stop them.
Visit NRDCs Switchboard BlogA letter signed by the American Lung Association, the American Public Health Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics and nearly 300 other organizations outlined that while the EPA has been successful at protecting Americans' health, there is more to do:
Forty years ago, Congressional leaders from both parties wrote and passed the Clean Air Act. This law directed the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to protect public health and the environment. Since then this wise congressional legacy has saved lives and improved the quality of life for millions of Americans.
But the job is not yet done. Far too many of our communities still suffer from poor air quality. Too many families, particularly those of lower income, face the impacts of toxic air pollution every day. And far too many of our nation’s children, elderly, and people with asthma, cardiovascular and lung diseases and diabetes live under added threats to their health from breathing polluted air and the impacts of global warming.
And continues:
Over the coming years the EPA will be fulfilling its duty to reduce the smog and soot pollution, air toxics, and global warming pollution that are the cause of these public health threats. We urge you to fully support the EPA in fulfilling this responsibility. Doing so is quite literally a matter of life and death for tens of thousands of people and will mean the difference between chronic debilitating illness or a healthy life for hundreds of thousands more.
The groups also rolled out a new ad campaign for hill publications, reinforcing the central message of the letter. You can see the ad here. The pressure from health groups is in response to polluter efforts to halt creation of new air pollution safeguards.
As Charles D. Connor, President and CEO of the American Lung Association said, “We urge members of Congress to reject the pleas from polluters and continue to support the Act and the EPA’s ability to protect the air we breathe.”
Now, what exactly are the polluters trying to do? Persuade Congress that this is all just expensive, pointless rule-making that will cost the government money and kill jobs. The Edison Electric Institute has been presenting the new safeguards as a complicated and frightening parade of regulatory over-reach; but the World Resources Institute blew that to pieces with a powerful analysis that you can find here.
And the US Chamber of Commerce went the way of kindergartners with a knock-off of the game Candyland to show how awful protecting public health would be for business. And I've blogged on some of the other efforts by polluters to hold back the EPA.
Fortunately, our nation’s leading health organizations are reminding us what's at stake. As Cynthia Bearer, MD, PhD, Board Chair of the Children's Environmental Health Network says
"Children are especially vulnerable to harm from polluted air. Air pollutants have been linked to asthma attacks, infant mortality, and even DNA damage to the fetus. Dirty air can be, quite literally, a killer."
What's the bottom line? As O. Marion Burton, MD, FAAP and president of the American Academy of Pediatrics put it,
"There is a compelling need to move forward, not back, on efforts to ensure clean air for all."
There you have it, Congress: Uphold the Clean Air Act. Doctors' orders.
source
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/pete-altm ... 94168.html
The Surgeon General has determined that there is no safe level of ambient smoke.
If you smell even a subtle odor of smoke, you are being exposed to poisonous and carcinogenic compounds.
Join us in the fight for smoke-free neighborhoods. Your family's health and safety are at stake!
Source: BurningIssues.org
http://burningissues.org/forum/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=4019#p9983
Webmaster: Readers----Please go to the BurningIssues website for more information. This website is great.
Let's ban all woodsmoke!
Other cities taking action against wood smoke
Monday, January 10, 2011
OTHER CITIES TAKING ACTION AGAINST WOOD SMOKE
Saturday, 08 January 2011
Letter to the Editor
Lethbridge Herald
Alberta, Canada
Mr. Pushor (Nov. 24) and Mr. Forster (Dec. 18), have criticized the idea that the city should ensure everyone's right to breathe fresh, wood smoke-free air, in and around their own homes. But as Robert Smith's Dec. 4 letter points out, "It is a public health issue, just like smoking."
Dr. Mark Miller of Chico, Calif., in a news article on residential wood smoke, suggests that people should care about air quality, "because this is what a community does. They consider the health of everyone." ("Doctor knows firsthand the effects of smoke on lungs," www.centerforhealthreporting.org)
Numerous government, health, and air-quality organizations, including the Lung Association, explain that wood smoke contains harmful pollutants like fine particulate matter, carbon monoxide, oxides of nitrogen, volatile organic compounds, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, dioxins and furans, formaldehyde and acrolein. Even with air filters and closed windows, it can make the air seriously unhealthy, in the backyards, living rooms, and children's bedrooms, of nearby tobacco smoke-free homes.
An Internet search can also explain why some places have begun taking action. In the Wood Burning section of its official website, the City of Fort Collins, Colo., informs citizens: "The city recommends that you avoid using your fireplace or wood stove to protect the health of yourself and your neighbors." The city of Elmira, New York, is an example of places that protect the health and safety of residents, by prohibiting fire pits that are wood burning.
Residents of some California counties were asked to avoid burning wood this past Christmas, in order "to give the gift of clean air." ("Please don't burn wood this weekend, Bay Area air quality officials advise," www.mercurynews.com)
In 2009, Montreal banned new installations of wood stoves. I'd like to suggest that a bylaw like this could be, along with a ban on the recreational pollution of outdoor burning, an achievable way for our own city to prevent added smoke emissions, while aiming further to provide equally full protection, for all Lethbridge residents.
Hampstead, Que., set a high standard in 2008, with a strong bylaw banning wood-burning appliances. The town's mayor, William Steinberg, has expressed confidence that other communities will follow Hampstead's lead. ("Hampstead ban a burning issue--and a good call," www.themonitor.ca)
I remain hopeful that Lethbridge will become a leader on this issue, too.
Cathy Baiton
Lethbridge
Saturday, 08 January 2011
Letter to the Editor
Lethbridge Herald
Alberta, Canada
Mr. Pushor (Nov. 24) and Mr. Forster (Dec. 18), have criticized the idea that the city should ensure everyone's right to breathe fresh, wood smoke-free air, in and around their own homes. But as Robert Smith's Dec. 4 letter points out, "It is a public health issue, just like smoking."
Dr. Mark Miller of Chico, Calif., in a news article on residential wood smoke, suggests that people should care about air quality, "because this is what a community does. They consider the health of everyone." ("Doctor knows firsthand the effects of smoke on lungs," www.centerforhealthreporting.org)
Numerous government, health, and air-quality organizations, including the Lung Association, explain that wood smoke contains harmful pollutants like fine particulate matter, carbon monoxide, oxides of nitrogen, volatile organic compounds, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, dioxins and furans, formaldehyde and acrolein. Even with air filters and closed windows, it can make the air seriously unhealthy, in the backyards, living rooms, and children's bedrooms, of nearby tobacco smoke-free homes.
An Internet search can also explain why some places have begun taking action. In the Wood Burning section of its official website, the City of Fort Collins, Colo., informs citizens: "The city recommends that you avoid using your fireplace or wood stove to protect the health of yourself and your neighbors." The city of Elmira, New York, is an example of places that protect the health and safety of residents, by prohibiting fire pits that are wood burning.
Residents of some California counties were asked to avoid burning wood this past Christmas, in order "to give the gift of clean air." ("Please don't burn wood this weekend, Bay Area air quality officials advise," www.mercurynews.com)
In 2009, Montreal banned new installations of wood stoves. I'd like to suggest that a bylaw like this could be, along with a ban on the recreational pollution of outdoor burning, an achievable way for our own city to prevent added smoke emissions, while aiming further to provide equally full protection, for all Lethbridge residents.
Hampstead, Que., set a high standard in 2008, with a strong bylaw banning wood-burning appliances. The town's mayor, William Steinberg, has expressed confidence that other communities will follow Hampstead's lead. ("Hampstead ban a burning issue--and a good call," www.themonitor.ca)
I remain hopeful that Lethbridge will become a leader on this issue, too.
Cathy Baiton
Lethbridge
Mother Earth------Woodsmoke Poem
Saturday, January 8, 2011
Mother Earth
She looks down upon the Earth in disbelief
Saddened by the horror and by the grief
Barren land and gritty sand
Instead of soil turned over by the hand of man
Forests stripped revealing hell
Burning fires and the lone church bell
Ring out against the haze filled sky
Children with Asthma and tears in their eye
Suffering from Woodsmoke polluting the Earth
Illness and death oh what a curse
Mankind and his desire to burn everywhere
On hillside, in cities and what do they care
But the innocent children still pay the price
With their health and suffering and yes with their life
Death from Woodsmoke is heartless, is cruel and relentless
It is horror, it is sadness, it is illness and senseless
Pain and the suffering of children can be found everywhere
It weighs heavy on parents who truly do care
But Woodsmoke continues to swallow up life
It shows no mercy to children, to husband or wife
Families grieve, families weep, families cry in despair
When will mankind stop burning wood and polluting the air?
Webmaster comment...The above beautiful and sincere poem was written by an individual that wishes to remain anonymous. Thank you for your submission.
January 2011
She looks down upon the Earth in disbelief
Saddened by the horror and by the grief
Barren land and gritty sand
Instead of soil turned over by the hand of man
Forests stripped revealing hell
Burning fires and the lone church bell
Ring out against the haze filled sky
Children with Asthma and tears in their eye
Suffering from Woodsmoke polluting the Earth
Illness and death oh what a curse
Mankind and his desire to burn everywhere
On hillside, in cities and what do they care
But the innocent children still pay the price
With their health and suffering and yes with their life
Death from Woodsmoke is heartless, is cruel and relentless
It is horror, it is sadness, it is illness and senseless
Pain and the suffering of children can be found everywhere
It weighs heavy on parents who truly do care
But Woodsmoke continues to swallow up life
It shows no mercy to children, to husband or wife
Families grieve, families weep, families cry in despair
When will mankind stop burning wood and polluting the air?
Webmaster comment...The above beautiful and sincere poem was written by an individual that wishes to remain anonymous. Thank you for your submission.
January 2011
Where there's smoke, there's pollution!!!!
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Source:
bclocalnews.com
Canada)
Published: October 31, 2010 6:00 AM
The Editor,
Port Coquitlam residents are invited to participate in molding a greener, futuristic view of our city.
Improving neighbourhood air quality would be a vital step to going green.
Air quality differs from one residential area to another. Poor neighbourhood air quality is noted in areas where wood-burning fireplaces exist. Fireplaces are a very uncontrolled source of air pollution, according to a professor in UBC's School of Environmental Health.
Wood smoke poses a health threat to wood stove and fireplace users and to their neighbours, states Washington State Department of Ecology. Emissions from one chimney can foul the air of all the surrounding neighbours and present health hazards.
How informed people are about these health hazards contained in wood smoke emissions is a guess. Many individuals do not relate a scratchy throat (or the "not quite feeling right") to wood-smoke. Are people aware that these symptoms could be the beginning of a serious condition related to wood-smoke emissions?
BCLA has a list of these conditions and claims that wood-smoke is linked to asthma, respiratory conditions, lung and heart problems, including cancer.
Government wants to improve air quality but has no jurisdiction over communities as far as a ban on wood-burning fireplaces is concerned; that power lies in the hands of municipal leaders.
For council and environment enhancement committee to implement a no-burning bylaw should not depend on how many people are complaining but needs to be based on the fact that too many people’s health will be affected if a ban does not take place.
Brie Oishi, Port Coquitlam
Note:Source:
bclocalnews.com
(Canada)
Published: October 31, 2010 6:00 AM
bclocalnews.com
Canada)
Published: October 31, 2010 6:00 AM
The Editor,
Port Coquitlam residents are invited to participate in molding a greener, futuristic view of our city.
Improving neighbourhood air quality would be a vital step to going green.
Air quality differs from one residential area to another. Poor neighbourhood air quality is noted in areas where wood-burning fireplaces exist. Fireplaces are a very uncontrolled source of air pollution, according to a professor in UBC's School of Environmental Health.
Wood smoke poses a health threat to wood stove and fireplace users and to their neighbours, states Washington State Department of Ecology. Emissions from one chimney can foul the air of all the surrounding neighbours and present health hazards.
How informed people are about these health hazards contained in wood smoke emissions is a guess. Many individuals do not relate a scratchy throat (or the "not quite feeling right") to wood-smoke. Are people aware that these symptoms could be the beginning of a serious condition related to wood-smoke emissions?
BCLA has a list of these conditions and claims that wood-smoke is linked to asthma, respiratory conditions, lung and heart problems, including cancer.
Government wants to improve air quality but has no jurisdiction over communities as far as a ban on wood-burning fireplaces is concerned; that power lies in the hands of municipal leaders.
For council and environment enhancement committee to implement a no-burning bylaw should not depend on how many people are complaining but needs to be based on the fact that too many people’s health will be affected if a ban does not take place.
Brie Oishi, Port Coquitlam
Note:Source:
bclocalnews.com
(Canada)
Published: October 31, 2010 6:00 AM
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)