WildEarth Guardians

Tuesday, September 6, 2011
Report Finds 80% of All Westerners at Greater Risk Because of Abandoned Clean Air Plans

WildEarth Guardians Challenges Obama Administration's Failure to Protect Breathable Air
Contact: Jeremy Nichols (303) 573-4898 x 1303

Denver—Last Friday September 2, President Obama ordered the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to withdraw its plan to update federal clean air standards limiting smog pollution nationwide, which according to a WildEarth Guardians analysis puts nearly 80% of all westerners at greater risk of asthma attacks, lung damage, and even premature death. 

The findings have spurred WildEarth Guardians to file suit against the EPA over its failure to start limiting smog.

“Instead of standing strong for clean air and our health, President Obama has opted to let westerners choke on smog,” said Jeremy Nichols, Climate and Energy Program Director for WildEarth Guardians.  “Clean air is a hallmark of the American West, but unfortunately, for the vast majority of the westerners, clean air is still elusive.”   

Smog, otherwise known as ground-level ozone pollution, forms when sunlight reacts with pollution from smokestacks, tailpipes, and oil and gas drilling.  Up high, ozone protects the Earth from ultraviolet radiation, but down low, it’s a poisonous gas that can trigger a number of adverse health effects, including asthma attacks, wheezing, lung damage, and even premature death.

In early 2010, the EPA proposed updated limits on ground-level ozone nationwide.  The proposal was spurred by the Clean Air Act, which requires the Agency to set national air quality standards based on what is necessary to protect public health and welfare.  The EPA proposed to limit ozone in the ambient air to between 0.060 and 0.070 parts per million over an eight-hour period, the strongest limits ever.  

The proposal was supported by the Agency’s own Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee, a group of nationally renowned clean air and public health scientists that was established by Congress.

Under the proposal, a number of areas in the Western United States would have violated the new ozone standards and be designated as “dirty air” areas, depending on where the final standard was set.  Far from being detrimental, the dirty air designation would have spurred much needed clean up in order to restore breathable air.  Most of these areas have never before been forced to clean up their smog, meaning for the first time, many westerners would face the prospect of healthy air.  Some examples of these areas include Sublette and Teton Counties, Wyoming, counties in North and South Dakota, La Plata and Montezuma Counties, Colorado, Navajo County, Arizona, Washington County, Utah, Ada County, Idaho, and many others.

A WildEarth Guardians analysis of the counties that were projected to violate the EPA’s standards, depending on whether the standard was set at 0.060, 0.065, or 0.070 parts per million, indicates that nearly 80% of the entire population of the Western United States would have benefitted from the clean up requirements under the new ozone standards.  All told, more than 50 million westerners would have benefitted from the restoration of clean, breathable air.

“The EPA’s revised ozone standards would have restored clean, breathable air for millions of westerners,” said Nichols.  “Urban and rural communities alike would have reaped the benefits, but unfortunately, that hope has been scuttled.” 

In response to the findings and President Obama’s announcement, WildEarth Guardians filed suit against the EPA to compel the agency to start taking steps to protect westerns from smog by implementing ozone standards adopted in 2008.  Although found by the EPA to be scientifically questionable, the standards were stronger than the previous limits.  If implemented, the 2008 standards would provide greater protection for westerners in places like Sublette County, Wyoming, and start to make strides toward meeting any future revised ozone standards.

WildEarth Guardians is also calling on the EPA to implement other aspects of the 2008 standards to ensure the American West is safeguarded from smog.

“The West can’t wait for politics to accommodate clean air,” said Nichols.  “We need to take every step possible to keep smog in check, starting with the 2008 ozone standards.”